Boundless
by TragicTaco
Summary: During the final moments of "Centennial Charmed", Cole Turner was saved from vanquish by the Avatars. Now, with their help, he must learn to master these new abilities. But it won't be easy -- not when the most unstable is inter-dimensional time travel...
1. Better Late Than Never

Chapter 1: Better Late Than Never

A hand grasped onto the doorknob of a wooden door and twisted it. As he turned the knob to the right, he applied force and pushed open the wooden office door to reveal the darkness inisde. This was not total darkness, however, as a deep blue tint was slightly visible. Still, for what appeared to be an office, the room was unusually shaded.

The figure walked into the room, his dark blue business suit camouflaging with the blue shade. He looked around the room for a familiar figure or two, but couldn't locate any.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, a voice spoke. "You're late, Cole."

Cole snapped his head to the right, the direction where the voice came from. Right then, there was a small swirl of darkness about the size of a normal man. The swirl whirrled about like a mini tornado, then settled into the form of a humanly man in a dark robe.

"Oh, there you are," Cole began, acknowledging the being's presence. Two other Avatars then appeared as the first one had. Cole turned his head towards them, and nodded.

"What took you so long, Turner?" one of the Avatars inquested, his eyes focused onto Cole.

"Nothing.. I, uh, just ran into someone. That's all."

"Was it Phoebe Halliwell?" the other Avatar wanted to know. Cole shifted his eyes at him.

"What does it matter? You asked me to come for my first assignment, and here I am. Can we get on with it, please?"

"It figures that you're still not over the witch," the same Avatar remarked, his face displaying the disgust he felt. Of course, Cole took offense to that.

"Excuse me?" he demanded as he glared threateningly at the obnoxious Avatar. "Run that by me again?"

At that point, the Avatar that had teleported to the dark room before the others approached Cole in an effort to provide cooler heads. "Cole, please, relax. I'm sure Milo meant no offense."

Cole's eyes remained firm, but ultimately he listened to reason and calmed down. He nodded at the Avatar before him. This Avatar, Swetow, seemed to be the most reasonable out of the bunch, and was probably the only one he could trust. He was the same man who had bestowed unlimited powers upon him several days ago.

"Now then," the Avatar continued as he stroked his goatee. "As a new member of the Avatars, you are required to have a full knowledge of your powers. We're quite confident that it won't be a problem for you to master them, but --"

Cole put up his hands and glanced at Swetow with a slight hesitation in his eyes. "Wait, wait.."

The Avatar paused in response and listened to the new member's inquiry.

"Hold on a minute... what are you talking about? You're saying that my powers are different?"

The Avatar nodded. The other two behind him rolled their eyes in repugnance.

"But I thought you only upgraded my existing ones? Are my old powers gone?"

"No," Swetow replied. He walked past Cole and towards the windows in the office. Shades had covered it from allowing any sunlight from outside to seep in. The Avatar of Power grabbed the string to the shades and promptly yanked them, revealing bright light into the dark blue room.

"Your powers -- your old powers -- are still very much a part of you." he calmly explained as he looked down at the streets outside. The height of the environment outside revealed that the room they were in to be 2 stories high. "If you desire to hurl fireballs, then fireballs are at your command."

Cole looked at Swetow, his eyes blinking. He was still unsure about what was going on with his abilities, but he began to comprehend.

"But along with your... average... powers, however, I've appointed the powers of the Avatars within your being. These are the abilities that are truly deserving of the word 'power', for they will allow you to obtain all that you require."

Upon hearing this, Cole lifted his hands toward his face and glanced down at them. "...you mean, anything I want?"

The Avatar nodded. "Of course, you do remember that our powers are not to be used for personal interests."

Cole's eyes darted towards Swetow upon hearing the reminder.

The Avatar of Power turned from the window and began to slowly walk back to Cole. As he rotated back to the location, he looked up onto the ceiling above. "At least, not until you've fully realized their potentials. That, Cole, is your first assignment. A misson, if you prefer."

Cole stuffed his hands into his pants pocket and glimpsed up at the ceiling with Swetow. Basically, he'll have to master all of his powers, but until that happens, he's free of whatever boundary the powers come with? This.. could be interesting.

"Do you have any questions?" Swetow asked, his focus now onto Cole.

"Yes," was the response. "Exactly, what do these powers do?"

"There are some that you've experienced, and many that you have not. You've already learned how to twist reality, and that's quite a huge start. Now, you will learn how to manipulate time."

"Time?" Cole repeated, his face displaying the fascination/hesitation he felt. "How do I do this?"

The Avatar smiled. "That will be your first lesson. Listen to your powers, and you will know."

Cole's sight remained on the Avatar of Power as he blinked with uncertainty. Suddenly, his eyes whited out and the pupils faded away. Cole's mouth hung open in shock, and he disappeared with a darkened shimmer similar to the Avatars' teleportation method.

Swetow smirked as he watched his "apprentice" depart. "He's going to make a very interesting subject." The other two Avatars behind him shook their heads in repulse and dark shimmered out.

*[Note: The name "Swetow" is based on the name of Joel Swetow, the actor who played the Avatar of Power in "Son of Sam" and "Centennial Charmed".]


	2. Chris Cross Crash

Chapter 2: Chris. Cross. Crash.

Close up of a park bench. The paint on it was aged and most of it scapped off. The bench was surrounded by the sunny sky above, and dead grass below. Nearby this bench was a rusty set of swings, and the remains of what was a water fountain.. with the sink half into the soil below.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. The white glow of it began to expand and invade the wooden bench and the grass below. In the center of the light, oddly, was a dark whirlwind that slowly became visible with each second. The while glow of the light then dimmed as the black whirl consumed it. The whirl then materialized into a form -- a human shape. Right then, the whirlwind exploded into a tiny explosion, and disappeared altogether.

POP.

Strangely, the volume of the explosion was almost nonexistent, with the most noise being equivalent to the popping of a potato chip bag. The debris of the combustion settled into the form of a man. Cole.

"Woo.." Cole took a breath of fresh air as his face expressed the bewilderment he was feeling. His eyes darted around his surroundings, and... nothing seemed familiar. "O... K, where the hell am I now?"

Cole turned around to check out the old wooden bench that he had apparently "popped out" of. He placed his hand on it and examined the rusty public seating. His eyes blinked. Come to think of it, the bench did look somewhat familiar to him. The newly appointed Avatar then looked away from the bench and at the rest of the area.

Just then, he heard noises. The sound of human voices.

Cole listened in on the voices. There was a male's voice, and a female's voice. From the tone of the voices, he assumed that they were relatively young, perhaps even teenagers. Cole decided to check them out -- if they belonged to human beings, then he could at least find out where he was. If they were demonic, well... he'll beat it out of them. Cole concentrated on the voices and began to walk towards them. Their volume became louder and louder, which meant that he was going the right way.

As Cole walked past bushes, metallic pieces of debris, and various garbage -- where the hell was he? New York City? -- he noticed something in the distance -- a man and a woman, holding each other while seated on another rusty wooden bench. Cole looked over at the two, and they seemed to be humans. He imagined that they were just kids looking for a good time by hiding out in an old park.

Cole shoved his hands into his pockets and approached the two harmless innnocents nonchalantly. He decided to ask them the location of this park, and perhaps even directions on how to get out. Cole closed up on the two and smiled at them.

"Excuse me, I was wondering, um --"

Suddenly, the man of the two stood up, causing Cole to pause in mid-sentence. Cole looked at the guy, but instead of being met with some kind of acknowledgement, the gentleman devoted all of his attention towards his mate. In response, the girl also rised up from her seat and stared deeply into her boyfriend's eyes. Cole gawked at them with a puzzled look.

"Uh," Cole began, lifting a finger to his face.

"Will you marry me?" was the response he heard.

Cole indolently jerked his head at the man with his eyebrows raised. To his relief, the man was speaking to his girlfriend, and not to him. As the two love birds began to converse, Cole felt awkward as he was unsure what to do. This was a private moment between these two, and he couldn't help but feel as if he was being invasive. He placed his hand on the back of his head and scratched it nervously.

"What's that?" the girl sudden spoke out, catching her boyfriend's and Cole's attention. There was an object floating before the girl and transmitting some sort of light into her eyes.

"I'm sorry, uh, shouldn't you put that out?" Cole suggested as he pointed at the object. Come to think of it, that thing was the third or fourth unfamiliar object on the list that Cole has encountered since "manipulating time". He was still unsure where he was -- the past? future? That thing on the girl's eyes looked futuristic enough, yet something was seemingly grounding him into the past.

Right then, without warning, the man knocked the beaming object away from his affection's eyes... using telekinesis.

...telekinesis...?

Cole took a step back as he saw this stranger send the floating object from his woman's eyes all the way to the brickwall... in one simple and swift motion. Cole stared at this.. this.. teenager, this-this.. young adult, who must've been no older than 21.. expertly destroy what looked like a spy device with wiccan powers.

"Are you okay?" the male witch asked.

"Well, no, actually, I'm kinda surprised. I assumed you two were ordinary teenagers, but -- wait, did you just use your powers in public? I thought witches --"

Cole looked up to see that the young man had paid no attention to him. In fact, he was asking for his girlfriend's condition, not his. Cole stopped and began to inspect this kid. He then noticed something about him that he should've noticed from the start -- the witch looked really familiar. It was as if he was somebody he knew, or perhaps the child of somebody he'd once met. Maybe even a friend's son. But who?

With this, he also realized that if his suspicion was correct, then he was definitely somewhere in the future. How far ahead would depend on how old this young man was.

"Aagghh! I can not believe he's sending probes after us now. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch!"

The Avatar's thoughts were cut short, and he looked back at the man to find him in a rage. Cole was unsure what to do -- he'd planned on asking the guy who his parents were and how old he was, but that might not be too good of an idea now. Of course, it wasn't because he was afraid of the young man -- after all, Cole was a mighty Avatar with unlimited powers. But, he WAS rather curious as to who this "son of a bitch" was. Was it the kid's father? Statistics do show that 85% of young adults grow up to hate their own parents, particularly their fathers. Or maybe this SOB was the big guy behind this futuristic world? Perhaps a powerful male witch, or even a new Source? One of the Charmed Ones, even?

Either way, things began to intrigue Cole. Avatar or not, he knew firsthand that fate usually plays a big part in people's lives, and he was sure that it was no coincidence he landed into the presence of this kid. Something -- or someone -- must be waiting for him, and if it leads to him mastering time manipulation, then all the better. If not, well, if a problem presents itself, then all he would need to do is dark shimmer out to safety. With all this in mind, why not let this play out?

Suddenly, there was a loud BOOM. An outburst with a loud bang that should've accompanied Cole's arrival earlier. As the explosion ensued, the surrounding behind Cole started to melt away. Cole remained unscathed, however, and he was unsure exactly what was happening. As the park scene with the male witch and his girlfriend withered from sight, another scene quickly began to replace it. Cole turned his head left and right as he realized that all of a sudden, he was inside of a museum -- a museum filled with people and tour guides.

A museum? No, this wasn't really a museum, Cole realized as he examined the building in horror and shock... this place was really Halliwell Manor!

"Wha.. what the hell?" was the only thing Cole could mutter.

"Welcome to the Halliwell memorial museum, a tribute to magic and of course, the Charmed Ones." the tour guide announced, her artificial smile beaming. "Please remember there is no digi-capturing, no holographing and most certainly no magic allowed while inside the museum."

Cole stared at the tour guide in disbelief. Did she just said what he heard she said...? Cole looked at the group of people standing in front of him. There were men, women, and children of all races and ages, and all apparently tourists ready to roam about the sacred residence of the Charmed Ones. He immediately recalled that many demons, warlocks, and bounty hunters died when they invaded this.. sanctuary. Now, it's opened to tourists??!

Cole glanced at various angles of the Manor's insides, and noticed that there were various props and attractions. From the Superhero outfits the sisters worn, to the.. uh... mermaid.. tail that Phoebe once had. Yes, these were actual props. Needless to say, Cole was bewildered.

The tour guide then spoke again. "Actually, the Charmed Ones were responsible for well over a thousand demon vanquishes before they were finally vanquished themselves."

"What?!" Cole exclaimed, his eyes widen and his mouth hanging in shock. Promptly, he calmed himself down and glimpsed at the crowd before him. They paid him no mind and seemingly didn't even hear him. Weird.. but good, he supposed. Cole perked at the tour guide and motioned his hand at her. "Er, excuse me, Miss? Uh, Miss?"

And oddly, the tour guide bluntly ignored him -- it was as if she couldn't see him. Come to think of it, he's been throughoutly ignored ever since he landed in this future world -- no, this future... reality.

"Geez, what am I, invisible?" he mumured, half sighing.

"As a matter of fact, you are."

Cole snapped his head towards the sound of the voice, and to his surprise, he saw Swetow, the Avatar of Power, standing beside him.

"S-Swetow," Cole stuttered, acknowledging the man who assigned him this mission. "You surprised me. What are you doing here?"

"I was just checking on your progress, Cole." the Avatar said as he walked towards his apprentice. "How are you doing so far?"

"Well, uh, I'm a little confused, for starters." Cole began, his eyes shifting back and forth at the Manor. "First off, where exactly did I travel to, and what happened to the Charmed Ones?"

Swetow moved to the side and checked out the Superhero costumes that were neatly placed onto the mannequins. He grabbed the fabric of the clothing and smirked.

"Well?"

The senior Avatar turned his head to Cole and nodded. "Yes, I can see why you're confused. Distaught, even. You've traveled twenty some years into the future, and the Charmed Ones were vanquished years ago."

The confirmation felt like a brick to the stomach for Cole. His face displayed the feeling of disbelief he felt. Of shock. And even though he knew he shouldn't ask... "...Phoebe, too?"

"Especially Phoebe."

Cole's eyes glanced down at the floor of the Manor, and remained there. By now, the museum crowd had followed the tour guide into the kitchen, leaving the two beings alone. Cole shook his head in denial. His head then perked at Swetow. "...how? How were they vanquished? They're supposed to be the all powerful Charmed Ones."

"I can't answer that," Swetow's eyes shifted and his sights set on a giant portrait of a man hung on the walls. "Although I imagine it shouldn't be too hard to figure out."

Cole noticed Swetow's eyes and his own followed. He observed the portrait of a man, who also looked quite familiar to him. Actually, if his senses weren't failing him, he could swear that the person in the painting reminded him of... Leo.

"Is that... is that Leo? The Charmed Ones' whitelighter?"

Swetow walked over to the portrait. "Does he remind you of him?"

"Well, not exactly.." Cole said, his hand scratching the back of his head. "I don't recall ever seeing Leo with long hair, and he never had that muscular built either..."

Cole glanced at the Avatar, whose expressions remained dead serious. Cole's face hardened and reflected the same. "...so, who is he?"

The Avatar placed his arms behind his back and smirked. "You were half correct in assuming that this boy is Leo. He's also half Piper Halliwell."

Upon hearing this, Cole's face contorted in shock to match the astonishment he felt. "You mean he's their...?"

Swetow nodded. "Yes. The one that was born not too long ago. The one she was expecting when you were... 'killed'."

"Oh." Cole said softly, nodding. He looked down from the painting. "I assume he's the one responsible for turning the Halliwell Manor into this circus parade? Is he why I'm here? The reason I landed in this.. future?"

Swetow moved away from the painting and began to drift towards the kitchen where the tourists were. "Cole, your task here is to successfully bend time to your will, and to learn how to hold -- no, twist -- the strings that are connected to it. For the time being, you are merely here to observe. To learn, to familiarize. That is why you are invisible. Once you've acquainted yourself to this dimension, the real labor will begin."

Cole's eyes shifted at the Superhero costumes as he absorbed the seeds of information from the senior Avatar. His sight moved back to the painting as he thought about the things he had discovered, and the people he'd encountered. Just then, the scene fizzled and slowly began to melt again. Cole looked ahead; this time, Swetow was with him, and the elder grinned as the surroundings changed.

Once the scenary settled, Cole and Swetow inspected the new background. Cole instantly recognized everything.

"We're in the attic," he mumured. "Except, it looks a little different. Something's missing."

"What is it?" the Avatar asked.

Cole's eyes skimmed the surroundings. Instantly, he realized what was gone. "The book. The Book of Shadows is gone. It's not here. How can that be?"

Swetow didn't reply. Instead, he turned his attention towards something else that was happening in the background, and pointed Cole towards it. Cole followed.

"Don't tell them anything. Just stick to your cover story. The less they know about the future, the better."

"But what if they find out who I really am?"

Like the fact that the book was missing, Cole recognized the two figures in the background as well. It was the couple from the park earlier. And just like back then, they seemed to be completely oblivious to his and Swetow's presence.

"They won't." the young girl reassured, her tone of voice confident. "Not as long as you can pass yourself off as their Whitelighter."

Like someone who had walked into a movie threater halfway through the movie, Cole was baffled and confused as to what exactly was going on. His face wrinkled to match the puzzlement he felt within, and he turned to Swetow for answers. "What are they doing?"

"They are preparing to go back to the past. Or precisely, your present."

Cole wasn't sure what the hell was actually happening, but he nodded anyway. He glanced back just in time to see the two share a passionate kiss.

"You really know how to motivate a guy, you know that?" the young man said after the smooch. This caused Cole to smirk; he and Phoebe used to share similar kisses like that. How long has it been since then, anyway? A year? Year and a half? Cole looked back at the two to find the girl drawing some sort of diagram.

"Is she a witch, too?" Cole asked, his head turning slightly towards Swetow.

No response. The Avatar of Power was gone.

"Swetow?"

Cole found himself back to being the lone Avatar once more. It seems as if his senior had dark shimmered away while he wasn't looking. No matter, Cole had already obtained most of what he needed to know. That, and he was invisible, anyway, so he knew he could just sit back, relax, and let the scenes play out.

Or so he thought.

"Hey.. who's that?" the male witch spoke out suddenly, a finger pointing at Cole. Cole looked around, startled. The witch approached him. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

His girlfriend heard the commotion and looked to see what had happened. She, too, was surprised to find a stranger standing by the attic door. "Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?!"

Cole was dumbfounded. "Wait... you can see me?"

"Of course we can see you!" the girl roared, glaring at Cole. "I want answers, NOW!"

Cole shifted his head to the sides. No way were they talking to him, or about him. He knew they had to be yelling at somebody else, because Cole was invisible. Wasn't he...?

"Bianca, I think Wyatt's on to us. This has to be one of his men."

"Well, he's not gonna make it back to report us." the girl declared as she summoned an energy ball from the palm of her hands. Cole gawked at it, surprised -- so she's not a witch, after all? Then what's she doing with one? Before he could think of anything else, the girl hurled the ball at him, with the intention of killing the Avatar.

"Whoa!" Cole exclaimed as he stepped to the side seconds before the energy ball touched him. "Okay, heh, I get it, you can see me.. but that was a little fiesty, don't you think?"

The girl conjured up another energy ball and chucked it at Cole. Cole easily sidestepped it again, while shaking his head. "You've got some power packed in those balls, lady. I can feel it."

"Chris, help me!" Bianca screamed as she invoked two more fireballs, one on each hand. She threw them both at Cole at the same time. In an attempt to prevent Cole from dodging the spheres again, her boyfriend accelerated their speed with the use of his telekinetic power.

It worked.

The energy balls smashed onto Cole and they bursted into huge flames that engulfed the Avatar's entire body. Cole looked down at the fire covering him. "...this looks familiar."

The flames from the vanquish then exploded, seemingly taking Cole with them. The familiar sound of combustion filled the attic of the Manor, followed by smoke and debris. The two lovers blew a breath of relief -- problem solved.

"He was a tough one," the girl commented, her sight on her boyfriend.

"He had to be, or else he wouldn't be working for Wyatt." her boyfriend responded, half smiling and half serious.

"You know, you guys keep mentioning this 'Wyatt'," a voice suddenly said. The two quickly turned their heads to the fading smoke and debris to see Cole standing there, unscathed. "I'm sorry, are you surprised?"

"What the hell...??" was the young man's response.

"No... no way..." the girl exclaimed, her eyes widen. "No, you... you can't be one of Wyatt's men."

"Pardon?" was Cole's sole response, along with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah..." her boyfriend nodded, agreeing. "Somebody this powerful wouldn't be working for him. That was two energy balls."

"Well, let's just say energy balls are ineffective against me." Cole continued, ignoring the two's realization. He then walked towards them, and they instinctively moved back a step. "Now, about this Wyatt guy. Tell me more about him. For starters, does his name end in 'Halliwell'?"

The couple looked at each other, their faces reflecting the same suspicion.

"You... you don't know who Wyatt is?" the male witch asked.

Cole scratched the back of his head somewhat nervously. "W-well, I mean, I've heard of him. I just don't really know too much about the guy. Who is he?"

"Who.. who are you?" the girl demanded.

Cole smile nonchalantly. "The only thing that you need to know about me is that I'm in need of info on Wyatt. Wyatt... Halliwell, I assume?"

"Wyatt Matthews Halliwell," Chris corrected, his eyes examining the stranger before them. "How is it that you don't know who he is? Anybody who's anybody knows about him."

"And why should we tell you anything, anyway?" the girl added, her tone of voice moving back to its previous hostility. "You won't even give us a name."

Cole sighed. Typical demon. "The name is Cole Turner, and let's just say I'm from out of town."

The name suddenly sparked something within the male witch. "Cole Turner? Did you just say you were Cole Turner?" He jerked his body forward, and his face slowly began to express the incredulous feeling he felt.

Cole noticed and cautiously shifted his eyes at the young man. "You... know who I am?"

The young man shook his head in disbelief. "No way. You can't be Cole."

"Chris? What's going on?" the girl demanded, her eyes also now focused onto her mate. She hasn't seen him react to a name like this in a long time.

"Cole's dead." the witch affirmed. "He was vanquished a long time ago. You can't be from the past either, because Wyatt's made sure that no one -- past, present, or future -- has the ability to time travel here. So who are you?"

Cole raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded his head at Chris. This Wyatt must be pretty powerful, especially if he could conjure up a spell to stop time travel altogether. Cole turned around and walked towards the diagram that Bianca was drawing.

"Ah, the Triquetra." Cole began. He placed a hand on the wall where the symbol was, and -- suddenly, he gasped. Cole's eyes blinked once, and instantly, he knew exactly what kind of spell they were trying to do. "You two are planning to go back in time?"

Bianca was puzzled. "How did you know that?"

"I don't know," Cole responded, his eyes still blinking once or twice. "I thought your boyfriend said time traveling was abolished."

"It is," Chris replied, his eyes glaring at the man he had deemed was an imposter -- although even if he was the real Cole, Chris would probably still despise him, anyway. It was the least he could do for his late aunt. "But with every spell, there's always a loophole. We were going to exploit that, and still are."

"Oh," Cole wiped his finger on his jacket and dusted the chalk off. That sudden acquiring of knowledge by a mere touch was still a bit unsettling in his mind. Perhaps it was one of the smaller scale Avatarian powers? Although unnerving, he was still curious as to how it worked, and after all, that was his mission -- to find out what all of his available powers are, and to make them at his command.

Thus, he had an idea. If touching a spell would allow him to see what it was, then wouldn't touching someone conceivably allow him to attain their knowledge on whatever subject he wanted to know? That seems to be a fairly reasonable assumption.

Cole turned around to face the two, and started to approach them... until all of a sudden, the environment began to melt away again. Cole rolled his eyes. "Oh, you've gotta be --" This was the third time that this was happening to him, and it was actually starting to be irritating. Cole also wondered what the reasoning behind this shifting could be -- perhaps it was one of his Avatarian powers acting up and causing all sorts of mayhem, all because of his lack of proper control? Or perhaps it was something else --?

The scenary crumbled and faded, and unlike the last two times, the new landscape that replaced it... was not a landscape at all. As a matter of fact, it was total darkness -- darkness that he had somehow felt before, and darkness that he assumed would never greet him again... especially now that he was an Avatar with unlimited powers...

What was going on?

"Ah, you've made it."

Cole turned around instantly. The silence that was accompanying the darkness had ampified the sound of the voice tensfold, and it easily captured Cole's attention.

"Welcome to Purgatory, old man."

Cole focused his sight on the man that stood before him, and recognized him right away -- he was the man depicted in the portrait back at the Halliwell Manor Museum. That kid that resembled Leo. The man that he found out was Leo's and Piper's son.

"You're... Wyatt."

*[Note 1: Thanks to .tv for the various "Chris Crossed" dialogues.]

*[Notable Quote: "It's all about power, it's as simple as that." -- Future Wyatt]


	3. 1000 Wyatt of Power

Chapter 3: 1000 "Wyatt" of Power

"I don't know how you slipped through, or what you're doing here," Wyatt began, his arms crossed and an evil grin spreading on his face. "But, you were a tough one to catch."

Cole stared at the man before him, his eyes blinking. Needless to say, he was throughoutly confused. How'd he get here? How did Wyatt manage to pull him from the attic? -- he was an Avatar with unlimited powers, after all. Was Wyatt the source behind all of those scenary changes he had experienced? And what's with the arrogant grin?

"And I do want to thank you for corrupting my spell. If I'd known that the legendary Cole Turner was going to come into my world, I would've been more than happy to disable it. Temporarily, anyway."

Again, Cole stared at Wyatt. He was shocked -- yes, that was the word for it. Shocked.. at Wyatt's power, and shocked at Wyatt's... attitude. "Y-you... you're...?"

Wyatt cocked his head to the right, slowly.

"...you're.. evil?" Cole managed to mutter. Wyatt grinned in response.

"...wow." Cole exclaimed, his eyes on Wyatt. "How? I-I mean, you came from Piper and Leo. I didn't think it was possible."

Wyatt ignored Cole's comment and instead walked over to him. "Tell me, Mr. Turner.. what are you doing here?"

Cole ignored the question and instead looked around the darkness. A darkness filled with nothing but cold silence. Purgatory, did he call it?

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Wyatt remarked, noticing Cole was observing the new environment. "I created this.. space.. for special prisoners like yourself. Barbas, Tempus, Grimlocks... they've all spent time in this suite. Now, it's your turn."

Cole glimpsed at Wyatt with an unconvinced look. "Um, I don't think so."

Wyatt smirked. "Barbas said the same thing. Stay here until I get back." With that, he transformed into a mass of blue and white swirls, and promptly orbed out of Purgatory.

Cole scoffed. Barbas was an ordinary demon. A powerful demon, yes, but nowhere in the same league as the Avatars. And no way was some lame "void space" going to keep him imprisoned, either. Cole focused his Avatar powers and black energy began to cover him. The energy shifted out of the dimension, and he dark shimmered out.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a distant building, several men and women were working on various controls and attaining to many different monitors. The workers included various familiar and unfamiliar demons, warlords, and even humans. Just then, a blue and white mass of swirls appeared in between the work station, and Wyatt orbed in. The men and women abruptedly stopped to greet their leader.

"Good evening, sir."

"Welcome back."

"Was it really Balthazor?"

Wyatt ignored the servants and walked past them into what appeared to be an office -- presumably his own. The various workers returned to work as they realized that their boss was looking to be undisturbed.

Inside his office, Wyatt franatically searched around for something. Papers, books, and various supplies were littered on the floor. Cabinets were wide open, and drawers half way out. It must've been something important.

"Missing something?" a voice suddenly asked, startling Wyatt. Wyatt turned around to see a familiar figure standing before him. Once he realized it wasn't a threatening figure, he sighed in displeasure and returned to searching for whatever object it was.

"Even if you do find it, it won't be much use," the female declared, her eyes glowing white with power. She was seeing into the future, or calculating the powers of Wyatt's new prisoner -- one or the other. Even Wyatt wasn't sure.

"Seer, what are you doing here?" he demanded, his back still turned to her.

"My Liege, I highly recommend that you not involve yourself with this... problem." she adviced, her eyes returning to normal and her voice showing the uncertainty she felt. "The Cole Turner you have here before you is unlike any Cole Turner I've ever known. Unlike anyone we've ever known. He is not Balthazor, and I'm not sure if he is still the Source. He might not even be Cole."

Wyatt ignored her... or, he deemed her advice unworthy to listen to -- even if she was the mysterious all-seeing Seer.

"Please, you must heed my warning. Think about how this Cole has even disrupted the powerful time spell you've casted to prevent people like him."

"Urgh," Wyatt growled, disgusted. He abruptedly stopped. "Seer. The only reason I brought you back was to give me calculations on an enemy's power, or to drop me a sign of the future. I didn't bring you back from Hell to nag at my decisions."

"But calculating is what I'm doing!" Seer defended, her position firm. "You MUST not entangle yourself with this, my Liege. His powers aren't worth the risk you'll put yourself into!"

Wyatt disregarded her warning again and resumed his search.

"Oh my... my my, this is exactly the same situation with Barbas, isn't it?"

That hit a nerve. Wyatt slowly turned his head towards Seer, somewhat aggravated. Seer looked back at her master, intimidated.

"My apologies for the remark, my Liege."

"Listen, Seer. What happened with Barbas was a rare, one-time-only mistake that I made." Wyatt explained, his voice low and threatening. "It will never happen again. And in the end, I did find out it wasn't really Mom back there."

The Seer nodded, flashing back to the event that almost cost Wyatt his life. "Yes, and you executed Barbas well."

A small grin formed on Wyatt's face as he thought of the power of fear that had now been embedded into his being. That ability came in handy several times.

"But," the Seer continued. Wyatt's grin quickly disappeared as irritation took over again. "As expertly as you had defeated Barbas, you must understand that Cole Turner is nothing like him. He is much more powerful; if not with whatever's left of the Source's power in him, then with his invincibility --"

"I can take Invincible Cole!" Wyatt blurted out, now enraged. Seer bowed humbly in response. "I was the one who gave Mom her indestructable shield when I was still in her womb. He couldn't hurt us then, and he won't be able to hurt me now."

"But my Lord, it's really more like a stalemate. If he can't hurt you and you can't hurt him --"

"Seer." Wyatt whispered disjointedly, his voice stressed. His right hand was in the air, and Seer gasped as she saw that he had summoned an energy ball. "If you're looking to be sent back, then keep talking."

Seer feared for her life and bowed humbly. Nevertheless, she still felt it was unwise of Wyatt to involve himself with Cole -- especially since a lot of information on him were lost years ago, and what little that remained wasn't enough.

"Now then," Wyatt resumed, the reddish black energy ball dissolving. He calmed down once he had reassumed the role of power. "Do you know where the Grimoir is?"

"No, but allow me to help you find it." the Seer offered as her eyes turned white. Wyatt nodded, and watched her as she used her mysterious powers. "Ah. I see it."

"Well?"

The Seer stared blankly into space. She remained still, as any sudden movement on her or someone else's part might distract the vision. "Someone has it. It's been taken without permission."

"Who dares?" Wyatt demanded, his face twisting to reflect the anger he began to feel.

"A demon. He's heard about your new guest and is looking to steal his powers." the Seer revealed.

Wyatt shook his head incrediously and sighed. Morons. Why do they even bother? In the end, anyone who poses a threat to him will be destroyed, and their powers absorbed, anyway. "I'll be right back. Stay here."

With that, Wyatt orbed out to the demon's location. Seer's eyes returned to normal, but all that remained was an expression of uneasiness...

* * *

The demon ran down the dark alley with the dark book of magic ticked in his arm. He looked back to see if anyone was catching up, and found none. So far as good. It was almost night time, as the sun had begun to set. Various garbage and debris from past battles lie on the ground. There were weapons, pieces of glass, various unused witch potions, and other dangerous objects. For a demon or anyone else, walking -- much less running -- on these streets was like going through a mine field.

But this was worth it. Especially if it's for the same power he remembered. The same invincibility that he had met, that he'd felt when he traveled to the past to meet Cole Turner. The Source's power... no, even greater than that. It was unimaginable, and it rivaled Wyatt's. Once the demon had Cole's invincibility surging through his veins, then even Wyatt would be hesitant to oppose him.

Of course, until that actually happens, the demon is nothing to Wyatt.

Blue and white swirls suddenly appeared before his eyes, catching the demon in surprise and knocking him down. The Grimoir dropped behind him. The demon looked up to see the light energies form into the man he'd hoped to avoid.

"Hello, Bacarra." Wyatt greeted, a smile forming on his face. "Were you planning to leave with that?"

"W-Wyatt," the demon stuttered, fear taking over his being. "H-How'd you find me? I casted a spell that makes me invisible."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Please. You didn't really expect it to have any effect, did you?"

The demon crawled back away in fear. Wyatt stood before him and glared. Just then, the demon had an idea -- he was going to find a spell in the Grimoir to use against Wyatt. Quickly, Bacarra turned to the book and flipped over its pages. "Come on, come on,"

Wyatt chuckled as he saw the traitor attempt to save his ass. It was an unbelievable sight to behold, and it informed Wyatt that a demonstration of his powers was required. Wyatt held out his hand, and it distracted the demon's attention. The demon looked up at Wyatt for a second, then suddenly noticed that blue sparks and white swirls were forming in the space above his hand. A second later, the Grimoir materialized.

"N-no!" Bacarra gasped. He looked down to see that the book had disappeared.

"Yeah, my telekinesis is a bitch, ain't it?" Wyatt commented, then instantly formed a black and red energy ball with his other hand. Bacarra pulled himself off the ground and made a dash to the other side, away from Wyatt. Wyatt tossed the energy ball at the demon, and the ball slammed onto Bacarra with incredible speed.

"AARRRGGGHHH!!" the demon screamed as the energy ball expanded. The reddish black energy consumed Bacarra, and he promptly exploded as a result. His screams of agony echoed throughout the streets.

"That was pretty good," a voice commented. Wyatt turned his head, and to his surprise, there stood Cole.

"What the hell? How'd you get out of Purgatory?" Wyatt demanded, his face expressing the confusion he felt.

"Oh, don't be so surprised; I'm sure I'm not the first." Cole scoffed, a smirk on his face.

Wyatt snarled, then suddenly calmed down as he realized that it didn't matter if Cole Turner had escaped; anywhere would be a good place for him to absorb his powers. "You're a funny guy," he remarked, as a similar smirk identical to Cole's formed. "Much more comical than what my aunt had written in the Book of Shadows."

"Out of curiousity, would that be Phoebe or Paige?" Cole wanted to know. Like he said, he was curious.

Wyatt's smirk spread as he stared at Cole. Right then, the hand of which the Grimoir rested upon began to give off a bluish glow. Cole noticed and he started to look a bit concerned. Somehow, he had a feeling he knew what Wyatt was doing, and considering the vast amount of spells in that thing, it might not be in Cole's best interests. Suddenly, the Grimoir vanished from the palm of Wyatt's hand, to Cole's surprise. Cole looked at Wyatt, confounded.

"Msolus Into Exitus Omne!" Wyatt began to chant loudly, his voice echoing through the streets. Cole's eyes widen with fear -- he couldn't exactly recognize the spell, but it sounded familiar, and it gave off an ominous feeling. "Come to me, the power of evil; come to Wyatt, that of which remains idle!"

With that spell, sparks of orange and black energy became visible throughout his body. Cole raised his hands to his face, and the same sparks crackled around his palms. The electricity then fizzled and materialized into an orange and black energy ball. Cole stared at the energy ball with a blank, somewhat hesitant expression, while Wyatt grinned evilly.

...that was until Cole hurled the energy ball at him.

"Hah!" Cole grunted as he threw the ball at the incarnation of evil. Wyatt orbed out to safety, and reappeared several feet away. The energy ball smashed onto the pavement and blew chunks of debris into the air.

"What the hell?!" Wyatt exclaimed as he glared at Cole. Cole smiled mockingly and exercised his hand with a "squeezing" motion. He turned to Wyatt and saw his enraged expression. Cole raised his eyebrows in response.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy to take my powers, did you?" he asked insultingly. "You couldn't even get the spell right; I'm not the Source anymore."

Wyatt growled; he was infuriated. This Cole Turner was making a mockery -- no, a joke -- out of him. HIM! He was the greatest power the magical and non-magical world has ever known, and the most feared face ever -- past, present, and future. He'd be damned if some lovesick fool like Cole were to ridiculed him, and worse if he allowed him to get away with it. "Son of a BITCH!" he exclaimed as two black and red energy balls appeared from his hands. He tossed them at Cole.

Cole dark shimmered away from the balls, and reappeared in the opposite corner. The balls slammed into the corner, but instead of dissolving or destroying the part of the street they landed on, they instead froze dead in their tracks the second they reached Cole's previous position. Suddenly, the balls resumed speed and twisted directly towards Cole's new location.

"Whoa," Cole remarked. "Nice energy balls."

Cole then dark shimmered away once more, and the energy balls stopped abruptedly again as soon as they reached where he had stood. Wyatt looked around for any sign of the Avatar. As he did so, Cole shimmered to the side of him. Wyatt sensed his presence and snapped his head towards him.

"Peek-a-boo," Cole taunted, then dark shimmered away for the third time. Wyatt's energy balls had also sensed his rearrival and zoomed towards Cole at full speed. Except, however, Cole was no longer there again. Wyatt, however, most certainly was.

"Urrghhh!" Wyatt howled as the energy balls smashed onto his body. There was a instant explosion, and the sound ignited the otherwise quiet street.

BOOOOOOM.

Cole dark shimmered in the other corner of the street as he witnessed smoke and various debris in the air. He scratched his head nervously -- it seems that he'd inexplicitly killed little Wyatt, and he wasn't sure if that was what he was supposed to do. Swetow mentioned back in the museum that he was here to observe, but Cole was sure that he had already seen enough. Swetow also mentioned that "the real labor" would begin afterwards, but.. what?

Obviously, he needed some more answers, and he decided that he had to summon Swetow for them. That was, until Cole realized that his problems had only really just begun. The smoke cleared from the destruction to reveal Wyatt standing before him -- with a round, light blue shield covering his body from head to toes. Cole stared at Wyatt incrediously.

"What's the matter, Mr. Turner? Surprised?"

*[Note 1: Thanks to . for the spell to absorb the Source's powers.]

*[Note 2: Barbas = The Demon of Fear. First appeared in the season 1 episode, "From Fear To Eternity".]

*[Note 3: Grimlocks = Creatures that devoured children's sights. First appeared in the season 1 episode, "Blind Sided".]

*[Note 4: Tempus = The Demon of Time. First appeared in the season 1 episode, "Deja Vous All Over Again".]

*[Note 5: Bacarra = Powerful demon from the season 5 episode, "A Witch In Time".]


	4. Something Charmed This Way Comes

Chapter 4: Something Charmed This Way Comes

Cole looked at Wyatt with uncertainty. He wasn't sure what he should do here; continue this fun energy ball juggling session with him, or dark shimmer to somewhere calmer and find the other Avatars for answers? Unfortunately, Cole didn't have time to evaluate his choices.

Wyatt released his blue shield and produced a reddish black energy ball from his hand again. He hurled it at Cole, and the ball zoomed straight towards the Avatar. Cole quickly conjured up his own orange and black energy ball, and tossed it directly at Wyatt's sphere. The two balls collided into each other, resulting in a loud, colorful explosion that knocked both men backwards.

"Ugh!" Cole exclaimed as the impact took him by surprise. He stumbled back several feet, but not too far enough to not see that the same had happened to Wyatt. Cole climbed off the ground, and immediately felt a sharp pain the palm of his hand. He examined it -- a cut. It seems one of the glass shards on the ground had sliced him when he pulled himself up. Almost instantly, the red in the blood darkened to a pitch black, and tiny orange sparks flashed around the wound. Cole stared at it, and the wound healed.

"That's.. something you don't see everyday," he commented, slightly put off by his new Avatarian healing powers.

At that point, blue and white swirls manifested next to Cole, and he jumped back in time to dodge one of Wyatt's punches. Instinctively, Cole grabbed onto Wyatt's wrist to counter, and -- suddenly, an intense pain that he had never felt before surged through his entire being. Cole released Wyatt and dropped to his knees in, screaming in agony.

"UUGHH!!" the Avatar howled, his hands grasping the top of his head. Wyatt looked down in confusion -- what the hell just happened?

Cole's eyes whited out as scenes of events he had never witnessed before invaded his brain. Memories? He flashed to a blurry scene of a baby in a crib, crying for its mother -- who was this baby? The scene intertwined to the sight of a child... a lonely child, seemingly practicing his aim with energy balls... while other children around him played soccer. Cole blinked in confusion, and a third scene followed; this time, two siblings -- both boys -- lonely and playing with only each other on a playground while other kids rejected them. The playground scene then came into focus, and zoomed in on the background. There was a woman. Long hair -- brunette. Middle aged -- 30ish, perhaps. Two baby strollers sat on each of her side -- one blue, one white.

Piper. Cole recognized her right away.

The scene slowly faded away, and another one replaced it. Cole's white, pupiless eyes widened as a familiar figure became the center of attention in this memory. Oh, no. The last person he'd expected to see, yet should've known would show up eventually.

Phoebe. Cole reached his hand out for her.

Wyatt noticed this sudden motion, and he realized what was up. "I see. I never figured you for an Empath." he said, as red and black sparks flashed in the palm of his hands.

Phoebe's face remained solemn as she seemingly stared at Cole. Her lips moved rapidly, and Cole could make out this strange blue energy -- no, aura? -- that was slowly emitting from her body. What was she chanting? Cole felt as if he was watching a magical home movie of some sort. The scene then pulled back from Phoebe to reveal another figure ominously standing over her. It was a young man, blonde, muscular.

Wyatt. Cole's wide eyes looked around as he tried to fathom what was happening in the scene.

Behind Wyatt were several shadows -- powerful shadows. Even though Cole wasn't present at the event, he could sense a fifth of their power, just from laying his eyes on them. At that point, young Wyatt in the memory summoned a familiar red and black energy ball with one hand, and Cole became aware of what was about to happen. "No... no..." he murmured, taking several steps backwards in disbelief.

Suddenly, he realized that he could now see everything clearly. In the background was Leo, face down. Piper lie next to him, on her side with her back towards the view. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and it wasn't too hard to imagine the fight she must've went through prior. Thankfully, her face was obscured in Leo's arms, although it wasn't hard to imagine her teary eyes and pained expression.

Cole searched around the view. Someone was missing. Leo? -- dead. Piper? -- dead. Paige -- Paige! Where was she? Even if he had personally detested the third or fourth Charmed sister, he prayed for nothing else but to see her rescue Phoebe. After all, this was a classic "save me" moment that the Charmed Ones always manage to pull, wasn't it? Right then, Swetow's words revisited his mind, and they reminded him of the fact that the Charmed Ones were already dead. Vanquished.

Cole came to the realization that what he was seeing was really a flashback of events that had already occured, and that he must've triggered them from Wyatt when he grabbed ahold of him. So these were Wyatt's memories? Cole closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the sight of Phoebe being vanquished. He squeezed his eyelids shut as he saw young Wyatt hurl the energy ball at his former love. Unfortunately, the haunting scene was still very much visible, and every millisecond of it was projected into his brain.

Meanwhile, present Wyatt was getting frustrated. He growled as he tossed yet another energy ball at Cole, only to see it bounce back at him. Surrounding Cole's entire body was an orange-yellow shield, similar to the one Wyatt uses whenever he felt threatened. Needless to say, Wyatt felt frustrated, even though somewhat intrigued. When the hell did this barrier form around Turner, and how was it able to withstand attacks from someone as powerful as he?

Wyatt realized that he needed something stronger to pierce the shield, and he had just the right thing for the job. However, at that moment, Cole's eyes returned to normal and he quickly snapped out of the trance he was in. The orange-yellow shield faded away. Cole turned his head towards Wyatt, his face expressing the rage that had consumed his body.

"You son of a bitch, YOU KILLED HER!" the Avatar barked and squeezed onto Wyatt's throat with both his hands. Wyatt gagged in response -- things were happening a little too fast, even for him. Blue and white swirls replaced Wyatt's body and he instantly orbed out of Cole's grasp.

But, Cole was quicker. Faster.

As soon as Wyatt teleported to the other side of the street, Cole had already summoned an Avatarian flame ball, ready to go. The orange-yellow ball was much more larger -- and stronger -- than anything he had previously created. Wyatt stared in horror as he began to realize the mess he had gotten himself into.

"Grraahh!" Cole growled, and served the flame ball straight towards Wyatt's temple.

"Apollo, Hephaistos, Agni!" Wyatt quickly chanted in response, and the flame ball that was inches from touching his forehead vanished into thin air at once. Still, it wasn't fast enough as seconds were coming -- Cole had already conjured up two more flame balls by now, and he chucked them both at the evil Halliwell.

"Excalibur!" Wyatt commanded and the sword materialized in his right hand. He slashed horizontally in a single motion, slicing both balls in half and out of existence. Wyatt then charged towards Cole with the sword in hand, and the intent to kill. No way was he going to sit around and play baseball with the invincible Cole.

In response, Cole momentarily dark shimmered out. He was also tired of playing catch with Wyatt, and seeked the satisfaction of avenging his love -- even if he knew that Phoebe probably wouldn't want him to do it. Still, the fact that Wyatt was inhumane enough to kill Phoebe -- and possibly Piper and Leo -- was deserving of a vanquish. In retrospect, Cole couldn't deny that he thought the whole "inhumane" concept felt somewhat foreign to him -- after all, he himself was a demon just two, three years ago. Nevertheless, this was a great wrong that needed correction, and Cole speculated that perhaps it was the reason why he landed into this future.

Wyatt briskly stopped when he saw Cole teleport away. He remained still, and his senses heightened considerably as he listened for a sign of the Avatar. "Come on, old man... where are ya?"

Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind Wyatt, and Wyatt instinctively swung around -- both body and sword -- to face the shadow. Millisecond before the sword actually sliced flesh, however, Wyatt halted. He looked up at the man that had manifested before him, baffled.

"You? What the hell are you doing here??"

The man, tall, buff, and perhaps even handsome, stared down at Wyatt with an unperturbed expression on his face. His cruel eyes sunk into the Halliwell's, and even Wyatt felt a bit uneasy. Two other shadows suddenly emerged from the darkness, each wearing an identical white garment that their leader donned.

"What has taken you?" the buff man demanded, his voice deep and threatening.

Wyatt moved the sword from near the man's wrist and it vanished into thin air, probably back to wherever he had summoned it from. He stood up straight and composed himself properly. "I was preoccupied with someone. Nothing serious."

The man's acquaintance, a second male, examined around the surroundings. "The atmosphere has been disturbed. There was another presence here -- someone powerful."

"Are you sure it was nothing alerting?" the leader's second henchmen -- or rather, henchwoman -- demanded. "If this being is powerful enough to leave traces of energy intact, then perhaps he is not to be underestimated."

Wyatt rolled his eyes in disgust. "You're forgetting who I am."

The trio's leader suddenly smirked imperiously. Wyatt stared at him cautiously, unmoved. "Ah, that's right." the man began as he slowly stepped towards Wyatt. His two henchmen followed. "You're Wyatt Matthews Halliwell. The strongest being in all of existence."

Although instinct told him to otherwise, Wyatt remained firm and still, his eyes intent. The giant stared down at him as he came closer and closer.

"You really should be occupying your time with something more important, Halliwell." the first henchman asserted. "A man from the past should be of no concern to you... and to us."

Wyatt nervously glanced at the accomplice, perturbed. "You know?"

"Of course. Or have you forgotten that we're the Titans?" was the response he was met with, from the woman. She smiled menancingly, as if challenging Wyatt. Wyatt glanced away in response, his expression reflecting his displeasure. These sons of bitches.. all this time, they were just standing in the background, watching? Unbelievable.

The leader resumed speaking as he placed a hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "Nevertheless," Wyatt cocked his head at it. "Cole Turner is no longer someone that you should trouble yourself with. Meta and Demetrius will deal with him."

Of course, upon hearing that, Wyatt felt all hope of him accquiring Cole's powers slip away. He quickly spun around and began to voice his disapproval -- but the giant cut him off before he could even get a word out.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in his powers," he assured, as if he had just read Wyatt's mind. "If you want them, I'll make sure my servants preserve it."

Wyatt glared at him.

"Go. You still have the end of a bargain to keep."

Wyatt's eyes shifted to Demetrius, then at Meta. He glanced at their leader one last time, then orbed out -- but not without one last look of irritation on his face. After the last traces of blue sparks and white swirls faded out, the female Titan turned to her leader.

"Chronus, are we really going to preserve Cole Turner's powers for him?" she pondered, her voice reflecting an alerming uncertainty that she understandably felt.

The lead Titan smirked. "Of course not. Do you really think I want him to be powerful enough to destroy all three of us? He has enough power as it is."

"I see," his henchman noted. "What do we do with this Cole Turner, then?"

"Kill him."

* * *

Darkness.

Cole reappeared from nowhere and impulsively chucked the fresh orange-black energy ball at his target. The ball flew straight across as if it had been thrown by a skilled baseball pitcher, and zipped away at its target with intense speed. It collided with thin air and bursted into flames.

Cole looked up, and darted his eyes around. It was then he realized that his target was not anywhere to be found. In fact, nothing was anywhere to be found. What the hell? Where was he? More importantly, where was Wyatt? Cole stood up straight and composed himself as searched the room.

Right then, there was a sound of WHOOSH, and Cole instantly spun around with an energy ball in his hand. Seconds before he would use it, however, he stopped as he recognized the beings that had appeared.

His fellow Avatars.

Cole squeezed his hand into a fist, crushing the deadly energy ball he had summoned. "Will one of you explain what the hell is going on? Where's that son of a bitch?"

"Relax, Turner." the Avatar to the left commanded, his face stern and uncaring. The man had a certain aura of power that seemed to demand respect from all who came across him. In fact, he reminded Cole of an Army drill sergeant. Yeah, that must be it -- the man probably served in the Military somewhere prior to becoming an Avatar, Cole concluded.

"Wyatt is but a mere stepping stone to your mission," Swetow began, joining his hands together in a cup. "A mere stepping stone to what you were really sent here for."

Cole jerked his head to the side, and his face contorted to meet the confusion he felt. "What?"

The Avatar merely smirked in response. This irritated Cole.

"Look, I don't care. I want that bastard dead, now that I know he's responsible for killing the Charmed Ones. For killing Phoebe."

Without saying further, Cole dark shimmered and exited the Avatarian dark room. He knew he was wasting time talking to his seniors -- time that could be used to right a wrong. Seconds later, Cole reappeared in the room, fully expecting to be back on the streets and confronting Wyatt.

"Welcome back, Cole." Swetow greeted with a smile.

Cole looked around, and realized he hadn't left at all. "Wha..? What the hell..?"

"You should've known that your novice powers are almost useless here," the drill sergeant Avatar commented, smirking. "Learn to complete your mission, learn to master your skills, then teleport to wherever you please."

Cole sighed, as he felt aggravated and helpless. All that power at his disposal, and not one of them was useful. He squeezed his hands into a fist as, for the first time since he'd received his new powers, he felt incompetent. Cole turned to Swetow, his eyes pleading. "Swetow, please. I just want to go back and do what needs to be done. To right this wrong. To restore balance."

Swetow placed his arms to his back and turned around, away from Cole. The other Avatar felt further amused. Swetow began to walk around the darkness. There was a slight but captivating glow that surrounded his entire body.

"Unfortunately, Cole, that's not your mission. It's not what you were sent here to do," the elder Avatar of Power explained, his voice showing no concern for Cole's request. Cole looked down, dejected... no, there must be something that he could do. Something that would enable him to exact revenge. But what?

At that point, Swetow spoke again. "Although..."

The Avatar of Power perked his head up into the air above, and his eyes whited out. He was looking into his visions. The other Avatar watched him cautiously. "...Hrmm."

"W-what is it?" Cole asked, with a tiny shimmer of hope.

"I see. Yes, I see." Swetow remarked as a grin began to show on his face. Promptly, his eyes returned to normal and he turned around to face Cole. The other Avatar was curious as well.

"What did you see, Swetow?" the drill sergeat demanded.

Swetow placed a hand on his goatee and stroked his chin. His eyes were staring at the floor below, and he nodded as if to confirm something. "Cole, if the Charmed Ones' vanquish is what you want to avenge, then I believe I have something that'll prove to be even more satisfying than killing Wyatt."

Cole blinked at Swetow. He was confused, but interested -- very interested.

"Yes, I can see it now." Swetow claimed, his voice enthusiastic. "You, Cole, are going to STOP the Charmed Ones from being vanquished."

Cole's eyes widen in shock, bewilderment, confusion, and astoundment -- all in one. His eyes glanced down at the floor, then quickly back up at Swetow. "I'm gonna... what?!"

The other Avatar was just as confounded. He quickly dark shimmered over to Swetow and whispered to his ears. "...are you sure you know what you're doing..?" Swetow nodded assuringly and insisted that it was fine. The other Avatar was still not convinced, but maybe it was better not to speak out -- after all, Swetow was one of the oldest, most experienced Avatars, and no one hardly ever doubted him. Yet.

Cole was still dumbfounded. In his heart, he knew it would be the best thing to do, and the best course of action -- killing Wyatt would only prove to be satisfying for himself, but probably won't do much for the barren world. However... to stop the Charmed Ones' execution all together...? Just how exactly would he be able to pull this off?

"Cole, we have every confident in you. What do you think?"

Cole blinked as he thought about all this. No, he was going to do it. It's just that there were things he needed to know. To figure out. Things, like how the Charmed Ones will react to him -- assuming he won't be invisible. Things, like if these sisters will be the same Charmed Ones from his timeline, or if they'll be the insane, vanquish-happy Charmed Ones from that damn alternative dimension. You know, things.

"I-I.. well, I'm.. I'm not too sure." the novice Avatar began, his voice doubting. "Don't get me wrong, I'm going to do it, but.. there are things I need to know. I assume I won't be invisible like before?"

Swetow shook his head slightly. "You'll be able to interact as you please."

Cole nodded, in deep thoughts. "Right." He then glanced back at Swetow. "And what about Wyatt? He was just as powerful as I was when I fought him. Am I to expect the same thing?"

The Avatar of Power placed his arms behind his back and walked over to Cole. His eyes whited out for a second, then just as quickly reverted to normal. "Young Wyatt seeks power. It's what he was taught, felt, and know. The Wyatt you've battled was one who had grown to control his enormous gifts. Mastered them, I dare say. The one you plan on facing will be an inexperienced amateur in comparision."

"I see." Cole understood. "An amateur, huh?"

Swetow nodded. "That's right. And all of your powers, both new and old, will be available to you at anytime. With them, you are sure to succeed because you'll be one extra asset that the Charmed Ones didn't have."

Upon hearing this, Cole glanced to the right, away from Swetow and the other Avatar. He was thinking, evaluating. Maybe even forming strategies to save his beloved Phoebe -- the same Phoebe Halliwell that had attempted to vanquish him not once, but twice. The same Phoebe Halliwell that Cole had sworn to stay away from, to no longer love.

"Of course, that's not an invitation to underestimate him either. He is still Wyatt Matthews Halliwell, the single strongest being in all of existence."

Cole exhaled a long breath of air, and stuffed his hands into his pants pocket. He pointed his head towards the room's ceiling, and thought back to the visions he saw when he came into contact with Wyatt. He looked down and turned to Swetow.

"I will NOT allow what I saw back there to happen. I don't care if I die and don't succeed as an Avatar. You understand me?"

Swetow folded his arms and smirked. "Shall we, then?"

Cole bowed his head.

* * *

Halliwell Manor. Present. Stormy night.

The Book of Shadows lie comfortably on the altar in the attic, and within a setting that was vastly different from the future's. This was the manor before it became a tourist attraction. The Manor before its rightful owners were destroyed. Before the great vanquish.

Below, voices can be heard, chattering much about nothing. But more importantly, these were voices belonging to historic figures in the magical world.

"I don't know if I should keep on going out with him," one started, already in the middle of a conversation. "I mean, he's so mysterious all the time. I barely even know him."

"Well, I think you should give it a little more time." another voice responded, this time belonging to someone older. "Maybe there's a reason why he's always shutting himself away."

The scene moved down from the altar and towards the couch on the side. Two women were seated on the furniture, discussing the various men in their lives while enjoying pints of ice cream. Only one of the Charmed Ones was missing, away with parental duties.

Suddenly, the attic's windows shattered into pieces as a bolt of orange lightning struck through. Pieces of glass and debris were sent flying through as the two girls took cover.

"Oh, Jesus.. now what?!" the older of the two demanded as she and her sister slid to the side safely. "What the hell's going on now?"

No response.

"...Paige?" the woman called out. Again, no response. She looked around her surroundings. Everything seemed to be in place, for the most part. Except, her sister was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Heavy rain poured down from the heavens above, accompanied by strange orange lightning bolts and deafening thunder. This was the result of the spell the Avatars were casting; a spell to send Cole, a being from the past in the future, precisely back to the past yet still remain in the future. It was a complicated incantation that required the right balance of power and precision. Thus, many Avatars were summoned to aid Swetow.

Six hooded figures circled Cole. His face was distorted as orange and black energy poured into his entire body, while his eyes were transparently white. Each of the Avatars' eyes reflected the same, and their arms were extended towards Cole to transmit their energy into him. Cole himself was paralyzed from moving even an inch as a result, but it was no concern to him. At the moment, all he thought about was if he will successfully land in the timeline he desired, and if he would be enough to save the Charmed Ones from a certain doom.

The Avatars, with each hands shooting orange lightning bolts, slowly ascended upwards while keeping the spell steady.

"Onimus, Pultrus, Zuhupre," Swetow began, his voice somehow booming over the crash of thunder and lightning.

"Onimus, Pultrus, Zuhupre!" the other Avatars followed. Slowly, the surroundings began to swirl around them, until everything was but a blur -- with the exception of the spell casters and their mark. Cole could feel his head spinning, and he began to feel slightly wheezy.

That was, until everything came to a sudden halt.

Cole dropped to his feet, sweat pouring down his face. He inhaled and exhaled the air as he realized that he was once again trapped in darkness. The Avatars were gone, and he could tell that he was no longer in the same building as they were. Did the spell work?

Just then, the darkness began to lit up, and something caught Cole's attention. He heard breathing -- heavy breathing that wasn't his. Another sound then caught his ears -- laughter. Sinister laughter, from two different voices. As the background slowly emerged from the shadows, Cole noticed that someone else was definitely in the same room as he was, and the horrible realization that the Avatars' spells might have failed began to catch up to him.

And then, Cole was met with another dismay -- one that was arguably even worse than the spell failing. He recognized the person next to him as the last person he would've ever expected to see again.

"...PAIGE?!"

*[Note 1: Excalibur is, of course, the legendary sword belonging to one King arthur. First appeared in the season 6 episode, "Sword And The City".]

*[Note 2: The Titans = Giants from Greek Mythologies. First appeared in the season 5 episodes, "Oh My Goddess" part 1 and part 2.]

*[Note 3: The "Drill Sergeant" Avatar is based on the same Avatar played by Tony "Candyman" Todd. He and Swetow first appeared in the season 5 episode, "Sam I Am".]


	5. Doin' It Paige By Paige

Chapter 5: Doin' It Paige By Paige

"Ughh," Paige groaned, wiping the dirt off her face from the debris and dusting herself off the ground. Something big must've happened back at the manor, she concluded, and by 'big' she meant 'demonic' and/or 'magical'. Thus, it was her duty as a Charmed One to find a way back to her sisters... once again. After cleaning herself off, Paige raised her head slightly to take a good look at her surroundings... until she noticed that someone was staring back at her. Er, more like gawking, really.

And it was someone that Paige recognized instantly.

"AHHHIIIIIE!" she shrieked, jumping back.

Cole flinched.

"Wha-wha-wha-what-the-hell-is-going-on-around-here?!" she blurted out in rapid succession, as she tried to grasp the situation at hand. Demons, wizards, monsters, and maybe even human beings she had expected -- but not him. No, no, not HIM.

"I should ask you the same thing," the Avatar retorted with a look of disbelief. By now, he had already come up with many different possibilities and scenarios as to how this could've happened. He almost settled on the plausibility that the Paige before him was a future Paige from the vanquish's timeline, the timeline where he was supposed to be. Although if that was the case... well... she sure hasn't change much, appearance-wise.

Paige herself was considering the same thing. Well, not exactly the same thing, but close enough. There's absolutely no way that the Cole she was seeing before her was the same Cole from... you know... 'then'. The crazy suicidal maniac Cole. She refused to believe it, because dammit... 'that' Cole is dead. So somehow, she must've been sent to a past when Cole was still alive. It's the most logical conclusion... and the safest. The trick is figuring out exactly which timeline it was.

"Okay, okay.." Paige attempted to collect herself. She turned to Cole and gave him a hard look. "Are... are you... Balthazar?"

Cole stared at her, one eyebrow raised.

She tried again. "Okay.. um.. the Source?"

Cole repulsively shook his head, slowly. No.

"Umm.. okay, I guess that's a no." Paige took a step back. She was out of guesses -- those two, regular Cole, and immortal Cole were the only incarnations she was familiar with, and she prayed it wasn't immortal Cole.

Cole himself was done pondering what had happened at this point. He recalled not seeing Paige in that flashback of the Charmed One's vanquishing, which clearly meant she must've died some time prior to it. So... if he was right here, standing in front of her and playing guessing games, then somehow he must've landed either way in the past, or back in his present. Judging by Paige's hairstyle and clothes, the present was most likely -- maybe even just days after his alternative reality vanquish.

In other words, the Avatarian spell had inexplicably backfired.

"Err... so which Cole are you, then?" she asked, needing to make sure. To know. And again, she prayed it wasn't the crazy, loopy immortal Cole.

Almost instinctively, Cole grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to his face. This sudden outburst caught her offguard.

"Look at me, Paige. LOOK at me." he commanded in a low, intimidating tune of voice, almost whisper-like. "Who do you THINK I am??"

The unexpected outburst left Paige slightly shaken, and she couldn't do anything but gaze at him in response. Her eyes examined the scowling face of the Cole Turner before her, and as they did... they widened in horror. Suddenly, she had a sinking feeling in her chest as she realized just which Cole it was.

"Look, I'm willing to let that go for now," Cole offered, as he released her from his vice grip. "There are more important things on my mind than exacting revenge, and one of them happens to include your sisters' lives."

That caused Paige to snap out of her trance. "Wait, what?" She focused her attention to Cole as he began to observe his surroundings. "What did you just say? What do my sisters have to do with this? What's gonna happen to them?"

Cole ignored her and tapped on the wall to his right. Hollow. Apparently, they were in some kind of old abandoned warehouse, full of expired stock and cardboard boxes. "I'll explain later, Paige. Right now, I need to find out what went wrong with the spell."

Paige glared at him. "No!" Tell her later!? Her sisters' lives were in danger, and he won't even take one second to explain this big emergency? "Tell me what's going to happen to Piper and Phoebe, Cole. Now. Or else I'll vanquish your sorry ass. Again."

Cole stopped abruptedly. Obviously he didn't take kindly to her threatening him, especially when HE was the one trying to save her ass. He turned his head towards her and glowered from the irritation he felt. "I said, I'll explain later. If you'd like to go at it, there'll be plenty of chances after he's stopped. You got me?"

And that was that. Cole's determination to save her sisters from whatever it was baffled Paige. Sure, she understood that he was probably doing it for Phoebe, and that itself wasn't really surprising. But even knowing that, she couldn't help but feel some sort of.. respect.. for it. Especially considering that they were the ones who had attempted to vanquish him over and over.. and over. Aside from that, Cole's mentioning of a 'he' also provoked Paige's curiousity: who was 'he', and why did 'he' have Cole so worked up?

"We're definitely in some kind of old warehouse," Cole declared, breaking the silence as well as Paige's chain of thought. She looked at him. He was still busy pounding on the walls and examining the cardboard boxes.

"What do you propose we do?" she asked, watching him. "I can orb us out of here if that's what you need."

Cole raised his head towards the ceiling. "No, don't. Not yet."

"Then what?"

"The spell was supposed to send me -- and only me -- to a calculated point in time," Cole explained, his eyes examining the ceiling, darting back and forth. "Now, I'm not sure what happened exactly, but somehow, I was transported here. And worse yet, you somehow ended up being here, with me."

Paige also began to search her environment, seeking out potential clues and what not. "So you're saying that somebody intercepted your spell?"

"Yeah." Cole affirmed.

"Then the million dollar question would be, 'Who is responsible for that', right?"

"Right." Cole placed his hands -- particularly his fingers -- on the cold walls, hoping to trigger that Avatarian power of his. No go.

Suddenly, laughter filled the area. Cole and Paige perked up and looked around. The sounds of a man and woman, snickering, chuckling. Cole pulled himself off the ground, alarmed. He extended his right hand and an orange-black static energy ball formed in his palm. He was ready to go on the offensive.

Paige also stood up. These voices -- for some reason, she recognized them -- and she felt terrified from it.

"Show yourselves, NOW!" Cole demanded, his head raised above and his eyes darting left and right.

The voices gravitated closer and closer. Paige froze in fear as Cole summoned another energy ball with his left hand.

"Oh please," a voice scoffed as the laughter ceased. A woman. "Don't tell me you think your energy balls will actually be effective against us?"

"We're not that Halliwell fool," a second voice said, half chuckling as he spoke. "We do not fear nor do we envy your power."

Cole flung an energy ball at the space before him. Paige grimaced as the ball smashed into a set of worn out cardboard boxes and blew debris about. "I SAID, show your faces!"

At that point, two figures instantly materialized before them. Cole stared, confounded and puzzled. He couldn't pinpoint who they were exactly, but they definitely seemed familiar... and dangerous.

But Paige knew.

"Oh my God..." she murmured as she recognized them. "Titans. You guys are the Titans."

"...Titans?!" Cole repeated, snapping his focus to her. "Paige, what?!"

She could only stare in response. In horror. She remembered what Chris had told her and the sisters when he arrived for the first time -- that history had written for her to be killed. By the Titans.

The two villains stood firm, amused at their prey's senseless squabbling. "It seems we are feared, even in the past."

"Indeed, Demetrius." the female mused. "Shall we proceed?"

The male nodded. "We've played around enough. Chronus will have a fit if we waste anymore time." And with that, he forcefully stomped one foot down the pavement.

"Paige, MOVE!" Cole screamed as he shoved her to the side. The spot on the concrete floor where Demetrius had hammered suddenly cracked apart, particularly in the direction in between Cole and Paige. It had enough destructive power to rival a small earthquake. Cole and Paige simultaneously orbed and shimmered to safety. Reappearing several distances away, Cole looked around and noticed that the Titans had.. vanished?

"Tsk, a pity." Cole suddenly heard from behind him. He snapped his head to find the female Titan glancing back, with a hand firmly resting on his back. "Such idiotic resiliency."

Cole was abruptedly sent flying away, straight for the wall behind him. Meta glimpsed at her hand, a blue-green flame withering about it. She shrugged.

"Ugh!" Cole grunted as he slammed onto the concrete wall. And he thought they were hollow? The impact left a huge dent on the wall, with dust flying everywhere. Cole slid down to the floor below. That really hurt like a bitch. At this point, Paige orbed to him.

"Cole, you alright?" she asked, with a tiny glimmer of concern in her eyes. Paige -- concerned? For Cole?

Cole pulled himself off the floor, with slight help from Paige. He brushed off her hands and dusted himself. The two Titans advanced.

"Okay. That one really hurt. Now you guys are gonna get it."

The Titans instantly teleported to his side, and the both of them ambushed Cole with an attack from each side -- the force of a tornado from Meta, and the icy sharp winds of the North Pole from Demetrius. Cole quickly reacted by producing two separate energy balls from each hand, but his reflex was slow compared to the Titans' monster speeds. Cole felt his body begin distorting from the fierce intensity of the winds smashing into his ribs and chest.

And worse yet, Paige could only watch helplessly. Still, what could she do? They were all on a whole different level from her.

"No.. NO!" Cole screamed as he struggled to revolt from the predicament placed before him. He couldn't die like this. No, not like this. He had a mission to accomplish, and lives to save. He will be damned if it all ends now with a meaningless death.

"He's.. he's struggling." Demetrius announced, bewildered. Meta turned to him, expressing the confusion she felt on her face. "I-I don't understand. No one's ever lasted this long, and no one should have!"

But Cole was. His will was too dominating to allow his body to succumb to this obstacle now. Somehow, someway, Cole was not only resisting the crushing blows, but he was also pushing them back, inch by inch. Demetrius and Meta soon found themselves involuntarily moving backwards.

"Come on, Cole, get them."

"This is not good, Demetrius!" Meta whimpered. "If this continues, WE will be the ones on the receiving ends of the winds!"

"I know! I know!" Demetrius growled, his teeth bared. "Meta! We shall abandon the attack and try something else!"

With that, the two Titans promptly teleported away from Cole and bailed out of their positions. The winds swiftly dissolved, and Cole dropped to his knees. Heavy sweat poured down his face.

"Cole!" Paige exclaimed. She ran to his side and grabbed him before he completely sloped to the floor. "Are you okay?! Cole?!"

Cole's head quavered up and down as he began to black out. The last thing he saw was Paige looking down at him.

Paige laid him down to the floor. The Titans were nowhere to be found, and this provided a good opportunity for her to escape. She decided that she had to orb Cole back to the manor with her -- even though instinct and a bitter loathing for him suggested otherwise. Still, she couldn't just leave him here now -- not if there's any truth to whatever it was that he had hinted towards earlier.

Grabbing hold of one of his hands, Paige began to concentrate for the orb. Blue and white magical swirls covered them and she successfully orbed away -- or at least it seemed at first. A second later, the same swirls rematerialized in the exact spot of the warehouse as Paige and Cole was bounced back.

 "Trying to go somewhere?" a familiar voice mockingly asked. Meta. The Titans were back.

"What did you do? Why can't I orb out of here?" Paige demanded.

"We were the ones who brought you here in the first place," Demetrius explained. "Of course we would set a force field to keep you from leaving."

By now, Paige was getting irritated -- no, beyond that. She glared at the Titans, even though they could easily tear those eyes out of her sockets. "I've had enough of this. Just what do you want with us? How are you guys even alive, when my sisters and I vanquished you all two years ago??"

The Titans stepped forward, both of them smirking. They looked at each other, then focused on Paige again. "Tch. Well, witch, it's only so simple. You see, you might have destroyed us in your timeline, but it means nothing. The only timeline affected from your victory is the one you live in. Where we come from, WE rule the land."

"...well, at least we do so in the shadows, anyway." Meta corrected, as the image of a certain pretty boy Halliwell came to her mind.

Paige stared at them in disbelief. "You.. you guys.. you guys are from the future?" she had to ask. But the answer was obvious, and one she had already figured out.

"And we have been sent here to stop... him." Demetrius pointed at the unconscious Cole. "Somehow, this demon was able to become so powerful that even Chronus felt worried. As is the norm, anything that threatens Chronus must not be allowed to live."

Paige turned to Cole -- she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Invincible Cole was more powerful than the Source, but strong enough to even sweat the Titans? That part made her really uneasy. Just how powerful has he become...?

"Now then," Demetrius began again, both his hands ready for action. "I believe we have explained enough. Time to die."

A blue-red energy ball materialized from both of his hands. Meta raised her hands and summoned the same. Paige froze in terror as she saw the Titans prepare themselves for the attack. Come to think of it, they were really only trying to kill Cole, anyway -- any deaths on her part would be purely collateral damage.

The worse part is, there was nothing she can do.

...or was there?

"Come on, Paige.. think! Think!" Paige said outloud as she glanced around both sides, looking for something -- anything -- to use. Cardboard boxes, pieces of wood, debris from concrete, and dust -- lots and lots of dust.

Both Titans tossed their energy balls at the target. Time seemed to slow down as the balls zoomed towards her. Paige panicked and adrenaline pumped through her veins. She HAD to come up with something, NOW! Or else the energy balls will -- wait.

Wait a minute.

"Huh?!" Paige blurted as she examined the energy balls. Call it an illusion, or call it the result of having tons of andrenaline in her blood, but.. the balls really DID seemed to be slowing down. In fact, the Titans themselves seemed to have slowed down drastically as well.

"Come," a soft voice suddenly spoke behind her. "You must get away from here before it's too late."

Paige snapped her head back to find an elder, middle aged man in a black suit sternly staring back at her. Behind him was an Asian man in shades, and a young, Native American woman with long raven hair to the right. Both of them were also wearing suits identical to the first man.

The elderly man grabbed a hold of Paige's shoulders, and suddenly she -- along with Cole -- began to orb out. Once the last trace of her blue swirl dissolved from sight, time instantly sped back to normal, and the energy balls collided with the pavement below.

The Titans stared at the floor as their energy balls smashed up pieces of debris. Confused, they searched around the site until they took note of the three new characters that were standing before them.

"Hello," Swetow greeted with a half smile.

* * *

Halliwell Manor. Present. Morning. Attic.

Blue and white swirls materialized as Paige and Cole orbed back to the house.

"I'm back!" Paige exclaimed as she recognized her new surroundings. "I'm back! I'm back? How did I get back?" She glanced down to see unconscious Cole, still lying on the floor. "Oh. WE'RE back."

Quickly, Paige pulled herself off the floor and searched the attic drawers. She frantically yanked out each of the contents until she found exactly what she was searching for. With the rocks in her hands, she placed them next to Cole in wiccan fashion, each crystal rock surrounding him in a complete circle. "Hopefully, this will keep you from using whatever powers you might have gained."

As she placed the last crystal down in its pattern, Paige heard footsteps ascending from below. Someone was coming upstairs.

"Paige??" she heard. It was Phoebe. "Is that you up there??"

"Em.. yeah!" Paige quickly responded. "In a minute!"

The attic door flung open, and Phoebe walked in. "Hey, what happened to you last night? What's going on?"

"Err.. well..."

Paige slowly moved aside to reveal Cole, still unconscious but trapped in the magic circle. Phoebe's eyes widened -- then abruptedly, she dropped to the floor with a thud.

* * *

Sometime later:

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" Piper clamored. "Paige, WHAT is going on here?! First you vanquish Cole, and now you bring him back?!"

"Well.. err.."

"He is NOT staying." Phoebe declared. "We vanquished him. You said we vanquished him. He is vanquished."

"Err... well... technically, WE didn't..."

"No. He's gone."

"Aye-yi-yi..." Piper sighed as she smacked her forehead. "I knew it. I've always knew it. I knew he'd be back. And now he IS back. Oy."

"No, come on guys, listen," Paige pleaded. "I really think we should hear him out. He told me something about the future, and --"

"A Cole from the future?" Piper chimed in with a puzzled expression. "So we really DIDN'T vanquish him..?"

"No! Guys, he said --"

"I don't care. I don't care! He's gone. I want him gone." Phoebe ranted. "Where's the Book of Shadows?"

"Guys --"

"I'm gonna call Leo. You look up the Book, I'll consult with the Whitelighter, aka, slash, Avatar."

And with that, both Phoebe and Piper got off the couch to deal with the situation in their own ways.

"Oh, boy." Paige exhaled.

This was NOT going to turn out good.

* * *

Up in the attic, Cole felt like a caged animal. This was not how things were supposed to be. He had awoken about an hour ago to find that he was back in the Halliwell Manor's attic again. To some extent, he actually missed the place -- a lot of his squabbles with the sisters, both good and bad, took place here. The final battle with the Source; his corruption with the Hollow; and the more recent events with Barbas. In some ways, he even reminisced about those times.

But still, he felt like a caged animal. Even with his vast invincibility and newfound Avatarian powers, it seems he couldn't escape from a simple witch spell.

...or could he?

Cole closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He searched within his being for a spell.. any spell. A spell of teleportation, a spell of removal, any spell that can transport him from within the force field to outside of it. Point A to Point B. Should be simple enough.

"Hey!"

The sound of the voice broke his concentration. It was her voice.. her's. Cole's eyes snapped open as he came eye to eye with the woman he loved. The woman he still loves, even after all this time. "P-Phoebe... hi.."

"Don't." the Halliwell sister halted. She glared at him with such.. hated. Such.. putrid. Cole felt the same emotional wounds that had been long since buried slowly open up again. "Tell me something, Cole."

Cole looked at her curiously.

"About two years ago when I ran into you, I didn't think it was you. I didn't WANT to think it was you, that it was possible for you to still be alive. I had hoped it was a demon. I wished it was a demon. Tell me something, Cole. Was that really you that I ran into that day?"

Cole blinked. His eyes darted downwards as he tried to recall the event in question -- and a second later, he remembered. It was right before he went into his first meeting with Swetow and the other Avatars. That.. was two years ago?

"Erm.." he began, his eyes again darting left and right as he tried to find the right words to say. "Well.. I.. wait. Two years? Did you say two years? It's been two years?"

Phoebe glared at him sternly. To him, that meant, "Yes".

"...wow. I could've sworn it felt more like two days."

"Cole. Answer me."

Cole looked up at her, then exhaled a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, that was me. I was on the way to a business meeting."

Phoebe stared at him. She recalled him specifically mentioning something about being an Avatar. Back then, she had no idea what it was or what he meant, and eventually, she even dismissed the whole thing as a dream or illusion of sorts. But now that she knew better, especially with the recent dealings with Alpha and the other Avatars, something sparked inside of her. "It was a meeting with the Avatars, right?"

That one caught Cole offguard. "You.. know what Avatars are? Phoebe?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We've been running into them lately. Alpha and his two other guys. They, uh, mentioned something about destroying the balance between good and evil, and bringing upon total paradise. I don't suppose you're part of this grand design of theirs?"

Cole scratched his head in confusion. "Uh.. no. No? I haven't heard anything about that, no." he glanced at her and moved forward, or at least as much as the force field allowed. "Are you sure you guys have been seeing the Avatars? I mean, they could very well have been imposters, and --"

Phoebe didn't respond -- at least not with words. She continued to stare at him, with a blank smile on her face. It wasn't one of those compassionate warm 'Phoebe' smiles, but one from a feeling of utter disgust. Cole's eyes darted down from guilt and he sloped back. Knives and energy balls had nothing on that cold, calculating smile of hers.

Uncomfortable silence followed.

...until...

"No. NO!" Phoebe suddenly exclaimed, which caught Cole's attention. He turned to her, eager to see what was wrong, and to help. "I came up here to find the Book of Shadows. I can't have you back in my life. I can't have you back in ANY life."

"Phoebe..."

She turned around from him and searched the attic aimlessly. Half because she couldn't bear to look at him any longer, and half because she really wanted to get him out. But the book seemed to have disappeared, as it wasn't on the shelves or in the cabinets. Where was that damn book?

"Phoebe, please."

She ignored him.

"You have to listen to me. I can't stay in this thing."

She began to search behind the mirror.

"Phoebe, will you please let me out of here? I have to contact the other Avatars, and --"

At that point, she swung around to face him. Cole stopped. 

"You are not calling the other Avatars. Because you aren't one."

"Phoebe.. what?"

"The Avatars we met wouldn't want anything to do with an evil demon like you."

"Phoebe, I --"

Suddenly, the sounds of jingles and sparks can be heard, as blue swirls and white orbs formed in an unoccupied space between them. Cole and Phoebe turned their attention to find Piper and Leo standing there.

"Hello, Cole." Piper greeted mockingly.

"Piper. Hi." he responded nervously, as the image of her death that he saw from Future Wyatt played in the back of his head. "H-how are you? How have you and Leo been?"

"We've been fine. Leo, check him."

Leo cautiously approached Cole and gazed into his eyes. Cole stared back, and suddenly it hit him -- he could see that Leo's eyes reflected the same.. glimmer.. as he had. As the other Avatars had. Leo was an Avatar.

"Leo, you.. you've become an Avatar, too?"

Leo ignored him and reached his hand out. It penetrated the force field and grabbed a hold of Cole's upper right arm, to which Cole observed carefully. Leo closed his eyes and concentrated on the task at hand. A second later, his eyes popped open and he reflexively pulled back. Expecting the worse, Piper and Phoebe quickly charged in to attack.

"No! Wait!" Leo cried out, and the two women abruptedly stopped. They prudently edged back to him. "Piper, Phoebe, don't.. don't hurt him. He's one of us."

"What?!" Phoebe exclaimed.

The two women looked at each other, then at Leo, then finally at Cole.

"You can't.. be serious." Piper deadpanned.

*[Note 1: The event in question that Phoebe, er, "interrogated" Cole about happened in this story's prequel, "Centennial Avatar". Please check it out if you haven't already read it.]

*[Note 2: "Alpha" is the official name given to the Avatar of Power character played by Joel Swetow. I have plans to use both names for him in the story.]

*[Note 3: The "Asian Man" Avatar and "Native American Woman" Avatar described earlier this chapter are Gamma and Beta, both official characters on the show played by Ian Anthony Dale and Patrice Fisher, respectively.]

*[Note 4: Leo became an Avatar upon the request of Alpha, Gamma, and Beta during recent season 7 episodes of the series. Originally, I had no plans to include the new turn of events into this story, but ahh.. it'll be kinda fun to twist things around.]


	6. How Soon Is Now?

Chapter 6: How Soon Is Now?

"Call toll free, right now! 1-800-765--"

Zzzph.

The channel flipped up and down as Paige randomly pushed buttons on the remote control. Her eyes darted from the TV monitor to the staircase leading to the attic, then back at the TV again. She was anxious, nervous, and curious. WHAT was happening in the attic, and why was it taking so long? Has Leo vertified Cole's identity yet? Did Piper find him to be okay? And how did Phoebe feel about the whole situation?

Paige was also deep in thought about what happened back in the warehouse. The Titans had attacked Cole. Alpha and the other Avatars came just in time to save them. It was not a coincident -- she had already put 2 and 2 together; that being Cole's new advancement in power obviously had something to do with the Avatars. Were they in cahoot. Perhaps Cole might have even.. joined them?

But even if the Avatars seemed okay, Cole was still Cole. The last time they crossed path, he went insane. Even if he had seemingly changed back to the 'good' Cole, Paige couldn't help but still be a bit.. leery.

She hit the buttons on the remote again as her eyes darted back to the stairchase.

* * *

"Yeah, he's one of us, alright." Leo repeated as he took a step back. "We should let him out of there."

"NO!" Phoebe protested. "It's gotta be a trick. There's no way the Avatars would want anything to do with a demon like him. Their mission is the rid the world of all demons, remember?"

"Phoebe, you don't understand, I --"

"Shut up, Cole. Please." she wasn't hearing it. But who could blame her? This was the third or fourth or fifth time he had returned to life, and each time he left on bad terms. Anyone would be apprehensive about trusting him again. And Cole understood that.

"Look, you don't have to trust me. I'm not asking for any of you to trust me. I just want to get out of here and do what I'm supposed to do. Please."

"And what might that be, exactly?" Phoebe demanded mockingly. "Huh?"

"Well, I-I can't tell you word for word, but please, for your sake, and for your sisters' sake, you have to --"

"No. No! It's always the same sob story every time." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is, in the end, it'll just end up being another sad attempt to get back with me. And you know what that is? Pathetic. Cole, I am SO sick of this. Let me tell you something --"

Cole had enough of her crap.

"Will you please just LISTEN TO ME?!"

The sudden outburst stopped her dead in her tracks. Even Piper and Leo were shocked speechless. But again, Cole's had enough of this. He couldn't believe that she hated him so much that nothing he tried to say was getting through. In a different perspective, he knew he deserved it, and he was oh-so-used to this particular attitude of hers during the 'last days' of his life with the sisters. But -- enough was enough.

"YOU listen to me, Phoebe. LISTEN." Cole growled in a whisper-like threatening tone. "I did NOT come back here for this. I did NOT come back here to see YOU."

Phoebe gazed at him, her eyes scanning his every move. Or maybe she was speechless like the others -- and it was long overdue.

"I-I mean, OK, I understand that you, Piper, and Paige don't want to see me anymore, and I can live with that. I was NOT supposed to be sent here," he continued, his voice graduatedly calming. "I-I don't know what happened. I mean, there's a certain time point that I'm supposed to be, and this is not it. Somehow, the spell was intercepted, and I just know that the Titans must be responsible. They-they have to be, it was a spell from the --"

"...wait, what?" Piper chimed in. "Hold on a minute -- TITANS?!"

Obviously Paige hadn't explained anything about them. And speak of the devil --

Blue and white swirls formed right beside Piper and Leo, and a second later, Paige materialized. Her sister and brother in-law turned to her, while Phoebe remained fixed on Cole.

"Hi! I heard yelling. What's going on?"

"Paige, I thought I asked you to stay down there." Leo eyed her.

"Yes, but yelling! I heard yelling and I was worried, so I came up."

"..Paige?" Piper started. "What's this hub bub that Cole is saying about the Titans?"

Paige's eyes darted back and forth nervously. Piper stared at her sternly. Uh-oh. Whoops. In all of the rage of Cole's return, Paige had 'accidently' let that little detail slip by. She grimaced with an 'oops' look.

"Ugh, never mind." Piper sighed. She returned her attention to Cole, until suddenly -- three more figures appeared in the room.

"The Titans.. were formidable foes," the voice spoke out from behind everyone. Cole, Phoebe, Piper, Leo, and Paige instantly spun around to find familiar faces in black suits. The Avatars.

"Swetow!" Cole bellowed. "You're here!"

"Alpha," Leo acknowledged.

Piper stepped forward from where she stood. "Okay, now that you guys are here, maybe you'd like to explain to us what's going on."

The Avatars ascended towards them and suddenly vanished from sight. A second later, the three of them reppeared behind Cole. Swetow lifted two fingers in the air, then waved them about. As he did so, the crystal rocks that had formed a force field around Cole was deactivated.

"H-hey!" Paige exclaimed. "You can't..!"

With the force field gone, Cole could once again feel tremendous power sorching through his veins. He stepped out from where he had been held captive and rejoined the side of the Avatars.

"Swetow, I don't know how I was freed from battling the Titans, but it's not of concern right now. We need to get out of here. We --"

The Avatar of Power held out one arm in front of him, as if ordering silence. He nodded at Cole, then refocused his attention towards Leo and the sisters.

"It's true that Cole here has become one of us," Swetow started, slowing putting his hands together. "He was recruited at a time when the collective needed a.. 'boost'.. of power. His abilities failed to enhance much, but his invicibility strengthened the collective's defenses as a whole."

Cole's eyes quickly darted down to the floor. 'Strengthened'.. 'the collective's'.. 'defenses'..? He had no idea what any of it meant, but he was beginning to understand why the Avatars wanted him. Evidently, they needed some sort of quick fix to their power, and he must've been the closest man for the job. Cole remained quiet and listened intently.

"But Cole is a demon. How could you guys recruit a demon into your ranks?" Phoebe questioned, her eyes locked onto the man in question.

"The demon that you've assumed to be Cole is dead." Swetow resumed, and as he does, an orb with flashing images of Balthazor appeared between the Avatars and the sisters. "The Cole Turner we had recruited certainly had demonic powers, yes, but he himself was not a demon."

"It's still the same thing," Paige rebutted, her eyes watching the orb. "Demon or not, Cole was evil. If you guys can make someone evil into an Avatar, I'm not sure we should be trusting you."

"Paige, please." Leo impeded.

"You mustn't categorize things," Gamma spoke up suddenly, cutting in. "To us, the difference between good and evil is meaningless. All that matters is the collective."

"Yes. Only the collective is of concern to us," the third Avatar added, placing her arms behind her back. "Cole's additional strength results in us becoming closer to utopia than ever, and anything that helps towards that goal is worthy."

"If that's the case, why don't you guys just go to Zankou or something?" Phoebe scoffed, sarcastically. "I mean, I'm sure he could help strengthen your collective as much as Cole have!"

Cole watched on as Swetow and the two other Avatars -- Avatars that he hadn't met before -- quarreled over the whole situation with the Charmed Ones. He couldn't help but become slightly irritated at the non-progress he was making. At the same time, he was extremely curious about this whole 'collective' thing and the whole idea of an 'utopia'. Neither Swetow nor Milo had explained anything of the sort before.

His eyes darted around the attic, looking for a good exit. Swetow and the other Avatars seemed to be too occupied to be of any help at the moment, and he himself wasn't really getting anything accomplished by staying around. Cole closed his eyes and quickly dark shimmered away.

* * *

Half a second later, Cole materialized inside of an unfamiliar setting. A place he had never been to before.

"..huh?"

He examined his surroundings -- an apartment building. Papers were scattered about, the phone was off the hook, file cabinet knocked over, and a laptop with no power sat on top of a desk in the center of the mess. It looked like somebody had ransacked the place or something.

"Geez. I would've taken the computer," Cole whistled as he walked through a pile of papers. He felt oddly relaxed.

CLICK.

Cole snapped his head to the sound of the noise. Someone else was in there with him. "...hello?"

CLUMP

Cole turned to the left. Something just fell. "Is somebody here?"

CLICK.

That, was the sound of a loaded gun. Cole immediately spun around to find a man pointing the weapon at him.

"Who are you?? What are you doing here???"

Cole nonchalantly raised both arms up and eyed the gun. He glimpsed at the rugged man standing before him. Late 20's, maybe early 30's. Probably hadn't had much sleep either, or at least a good shave.

And Cole could've sworn he looked just a little familiar. Just a little bit.

"Answer me," the man demanded, pointing his gun closer at Cole.

"Look, I didn't come here for a fight." Cole shrugged, his eyes glancing from the gun to the apartment door. "I'll see myself out."

As he began to turn towards the door, the man spoke again. "Y-you're not a demon, are you..?!"

Cole stopped. He moved his head back slightly. "..what did you say?"

"I asked if you were a demon," the man repeated somewhat hesitantly. Clearly he had experience with them before, and this baffled Cole.

"How do you know about demons?"

The man kept his gun pointed. "I have some friends who occasionally deal with them. So, are you one?"

Cole scoffed, somewhat amused at this situation. A human with knowledge of demons? That's not so common -- well, it wasn't common because the demons usually take care of any humans that knew of their existence. That was how things worked back in the old days. The fact that this man was still alive is living proof that the demon world had become extremely sloppy without the Source.

"Hey! I asked if you were a demon! Answer me!"

With an amused smile on his face, Cole turned around to come face-to-face with this human again. "Me? A demon? No, no. I'm not a demon."

This made the man even more suspicious. "Then what are you..? I mean, I saw how you came in here. That black swirl thing isn't something a Whitelighter or an Elder would do!"

Cole blinked. "You.. know about Whitelighters and Elders, too? How --?"

"I told you, I have friends."

Cole slowly nodded his head as he thought about this. These 'friends' wouldn't happen to be the sisters, would they?

...the sisters!

That snapped him back to reality -- he still had a mission to accomplish. He needed to get to the future and stop Wyatt; there was no time for him to be loafing around, even if he was curious as to why he had shimmered to this apartment in the first place, or how this human knew so much secrets that other demons and even Holy beings had died to protect.

CLICK.

"I asked you a question, you son of a bitch!"

Cole glimpsed down at the man and scoffed again. Well, hell, he already knew about demons, Whitelighters, and Elders. Adding one more little thing to the list wouldn't hurt.

"You wanna know who I am? I'm an Avatar!"

And with that, he dark shimmered away. As Cole disappeared, the man promptly dropped his gun and stared in disbelief. His eyes were wide open, as if the word 'Avatar' had unleashed some sort of impact upon him.

* * *

Cole once again reappeared in a place he hadn't anticipated to. Boy, the whole dark shimmering business seems to have gotten way out of control lately. First it was the inside of an apartment with a whack job -- now, it's the insides of a cave.

A familiar cave, one that he hadn't been to in years.

"Hello, Cole." a voice suddenly greeted, to his surprise. Cole turned around to see the smirk on a face that he never would've expected in a million years.

"You??" Cole began, somewhat abashed. He analyzed the demon that stood before him. Clean-cut hair, a light goatee, and that damn arrogant smirk. "You're supposed to be locked away. How'd you get free?"

"Oh, well, you know how demons are." the man responded smuggly. "Once they have no one to turn to, they get desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. But actually, I'm surprised they didn't turn to you."

"Yeah..." Cole scratched his head. "Well, I'm supposed to be dead."

"Ah." the demon responded, smirking delightfully. At that point, three other raggedy demons shimmered behind him, all of them carrying an energy ball in their hands. "I'm guessing you're gonna need help maintaining that image, right?"

Cole smiled at the challenge. He raised one hand to his face, and static electricity formed around it. An orange and black energy ball followed. "If you think you're up to it."

The demon smiled and sighed. He immediately snapped his fingers, and the three demons behind him attacked Cole with their energy balls. Cole dark shimmered away as the balls slammed onto each other, canceling out its effects. The three minor demons searched around, and right then, Cole rematerialized from behind them.

"I'm still here," Cole commented, eyeing his surroundings. He had half expected to have been taken to Paris or something. The minor demons spun around all at once.

"Back to business," Cole grinned, and quickly threw the energy ball he had summoned into the chest of the closest demon to him. The energy ball sorced through the first demon, slammed into -- and through -- the second demon, then blasted the third demon onto the cave wall. All three demons instantly bursted into flames as the energy ball vanquished them.

Cole squeezed his hand, satisfied.

The main demon walked towards him, arms behind his back. "And here I thought the Avatars were advocates of peace,"

That one caught Cole offguard. "You.. know? That I'm an Avatar?"

"Oh, I know everything," the demon replied, nodding. "Too much, actually."

"Then I'm sure you're aware that you're no match for me." Cole snorted as he summoned a second energy ball.

"Well, that remains to be seen," the demon smiled. "But I also know of what you've been trying to do, and I know you're gonna need my help."

Cole studied him cautiously. "...what do you mean?"

"Oh, I told you that I know everything, Cole." he gleamed. "If you want to go to the future, you can't do it alone. And the other Avatars are too busy to help you, yes?"

Cole watched him. The energy ball vanished.

"That's where we come in. You're gonna need our help."

Just then, an entire horde of demons appeared around the cave, surrounding both Cole and the main demon. Cole looked around as the various demons raved and hollered at his presence..  "The rumors ARE true! He IS alive!"

"I can't believe my EYES! Balthazar.. no, the Source!"

"That's Cole Turner, you idiot!"

The main demon walked over to Cole and slouched his arm around his shoulders. Cole gingerly walked with him.

"You see, Cole? They still look up to you. And they should. After all, you were Balthazar, the Source's right-hand man. You were in the Brotherhood. And then you actually became the Source himself. As if that wasn't impressive enough, you later overcame death, gained a whole bunch of powers, and now you're an Avatar. Even I, Zankou, can't help but admire someone like that."

Cole carefully observed him, silently contemplating the situation. The only reason Zankou and the rest of the demons were still talking was because Cole was interested in what they could offer him. But as a former demon, he knew full well that there was a price. There always is.

"Now, I want to help, I really do. It's just that I won't do it for free."

There it is.

"I mean, I can't," he smirked. "The demons wouldn't look up to me afterwards if I did. You know how it goes."

"Alright, fine. What's your price?"

Zankou snapped his fingers enthusiastically in response. "Fast and to-the-point, Cole! That's what I've always enjoyed about you. What I want, and what you're gonna need, actually, is a very simple thing. It's a book."

Cole winced. "You.. you don't mean the Book of Shadows, do you..?"

"No, better. The Grimoir."

 "Ah," Cole nodded; the mere mention of the book of evil was enough to give him an idea of what Zankou was suggesting. The many spells in there, although evil in nature, were just as effective as the spells found in the Book of Shadows, and possibily just as effective as any Avatarian spell.

"You're the only one capable of fetching it, and I'm sure one of the spells in there will help you. If you can get it to us, we'll send you to wherever you want." Zankou resumed. "Of course, we do intend on keeping the book when the deal's done -- that's the bargain. You're not opposed to that, are you?"

Cole flashed him a suspicious look. "Depends. Do you plan on using it against the Charmed Ones?"

Zankou smiled and shook his head slightly. "No. Just the Elders." -- at least, as long as the Charmed Ones don't get in the way of whatever Zankou had plotted -- which they undoubtedly will.

Still, Cole wasn't stupid. He knew of this possibility, and was in deep thought about it. On one hand, there's a definite chance that the Grimoir will be of aid to send him into the near future -- but on the other hand, entrusting the book to someone like Zankou will obviously put the present sisters into very real danger.

Unless, of course, he was willing to gamble.

Perhaps once Zankou and the demons had completed the spell, Cole could stretch his Avatarian powers and grab the book before he is sent off? Would he even be fast enough to do this? Or powerful enough? Zankou won't just sit around and let it happen either -- that goes without saying.

Suddenly, time stood still.

"Going back to your roots, huh?" a familiar voice spoke.

Cole looked around. Zankou and the other demons had froze. At about 10 feet away stood a single Avatar -- one that Cole recognized. "What the hell? You, you're.. Milo?"

He walked towards Cole, head tilting up to observe the legion of demons above. "I've always been interested in this, Turner. Demons, the Underworld, and the likes."

Cole watched him curiously as he approached.

"You know, we'd be very happy to show you what we're all about." Zankou suggested. Caught by surprised, Cole and Milo immediately stepped back. Zankou stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

"I-I thought you were frozen," Cole commented incrediously. Oddly, the mass army of demons that surrounded them were still subjected to the Avatarian power -- apparently, Milo's power had zero effect on Zankou.

"I'm Zankou." the demon smirked. "It's gonna take just a little more than that to put me out of commission."

*[Note 1: Man, time goes by really fast, doesn't it? When I started this story, Charmed was still in season 6-7. Now, as of this writing, we're at the end of season 8. In anycase, the current setting for this story is a mid-point in between season 7-8.]

*[Note 2: Zankou is, of course, the very same demonic antagonist played by Oded Fehr in season 7 of Charmed.]

*[Note 3: In case you do not remember Milo, he was introduced in chapter 1.]


	7. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Chapter 7: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

"So.. gentlemen, where were we?" Zankou smiled and clasped his hands together. "I believe we were talking business, yes?"

Milo glared at the demon and reached out for Cole's shoulder, grabbing it. "No. Turner and I were about to leave."

Zankou's devious smile widened. He separated his hands and summoned a fireball on both. "I'm sorry to hear that. Frankly, I don't think that's going to happen."

The Avatar's eyes flared, and he shimmered away from the Underworld with Cole in his grasp. A second later, both men were bounced back. Cole pulled himself away Milo and looked up. The Avatar did the same. There, above them, was an enormous blue barrier that barred all beings from exiting.

Except for Zankou, of course.

"Like I said," smiled Zankou as he nonchalantly juggled the fireballs in his hands. "You aren't leaving. You see, I predicted this. I saw it coming. After all, if the Avatars want to cleanse the world of both good and evil, then sooner or later, they would have to pay evil a visit, correct?"

Cole's eyes winced in confusion upon hearing this. Cleansed the world of evil? Swetow never mentioned this.

"And I'm delighted to have your company. So, Mr. Avatar, what do you say we get started?"

With that, Zankou slammed one of the two fireballs at Milo with shocking speed. Milo's eyes widen in horror as the fire of vanquish began to consume him. Zankou watched with glee. Cole was utterly speechless. A minute later, the fire went out -- but Milo did not go with it. The Avatar dropped to his knees, damaged and exhausted -- but still very alive.

"Ah, so it is true." Zankou commented, his eyes darting down at the Avatar, as if examining him. "That was one hell of a fireball, but here you still are."

At that point, Milo jumped off his knees and, with his forearm, pinned Zankou to the jagged cave wall by the throat. With the other hand, he charged up a purple and red energy ball that crackled with bright electricity. Zankou gagged.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Cole hadn't seen this side to the usually calm and collected Avatars before.

"I'm going to KILL this demon, Turner!" Milo screamed, enraged.

"You can't! I need him to --"

The Avatar ignored him and, in one quick motion, shoved the Avatarian energy ball flat onto Zankou's chest.

..or so it seemed.

The energy ball crashed into the cave wall behind Zankou as the demon shimmered away from harm. No, not even Zankou was fast enough to get away from an energy ball at point blank -- especially not an energy ball from an Avatar. Someone had interfered, and that someone was Cole Turner. Aggravated, Milo spun around to find Cole and Zankou shimmer to another location of the cave. Zankou nurtured his neck and breathed heavily, while Cole stood in front of him -- as if guarding the demon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Turner?!" Milo demanded. Two more purple-red energy balls crackled in each of his palms as he stalked the two men.

Cole tried to reason with him. "Milo, listen to me. You can't kill Zankou. I need him. I need him to send me back to where -- "

Milo tossed the energy ball. Cole grabbed Zankou and the two jumped back. Cole realized that this had gotten truly serious -- Milo was attacking HIM in addition to Zankou!

"What the hell are you doing?! I'm one of you!" Cole screamed.

"Not from where I'm standing," the Avatar replied and chucked his second energy ball at the demon. It missed again, and he created yet another pair.

"Cole, it's useless. He refuses to listen to reason." Zankou whispered, grabbing onto Cole's shoulder. "You'll have to fight, you're the only one here that's capable." But Cole was hesitant -- he remembered so long ago when he first turned his back on the demons. And he remembered how he "betrayed" the Charmed Ones. Now, if he attacked Milo, then history would once again repeat itself. Cole frozed. He CAN'T attack Milo -- the Avatars have been so kind to him, and he still needed them to help him save the Charmed Ones. To save... Phoebe.

Oddly, the second that Cole thought of Phoebe, a strange orange shield formed and encircled him. Zankou's eyes looked around, astounded by the barrier that surrounded himself and Cole. Milo growled and saw this as a challenge. He threw both energy balls at the shield -- and they bounced right back! The balls scorched the Avatar's clothing as red and purple energy electrocuted him.

Zankou realized that this was his chance.

The demon shimmered out of Cole's protection and reappeared behind the Avatar. Milo's head turned around just in time to see Zankou reveal an object -- a strange wooden vial that he had concealed in his right hand all this time. A vial, that Milo recognized instantly -- the container of the deadly Avatarian Miasma. Milo's eyes widen. Zankou grinned and tossed the vial at him

"N-No.. no!" the mist enshrouded him. "Urghh..! You.. where did you.. URRRGHH..!" Milo staggered back as the black fog creeped into his nostrils and mouth. His eyes rolled back and blackened. Cole stared in disbelief -- he did not believe what he was seeing. Cracks began to spread all around Milo's face and body as death consumed the Avatar. One by one, pieces of the Avatar shattered to the ground to dust, until all that's left was a torn black cloak.

The orange shield around Cole disappeared. He walked forward to check out the remains of Milo. "Y-you.. you killed him. You killed Milo!"

Zankou smirked and took an arrogant bow. In the background, cries and murmurs of confusion took over the Underworld as the demons became freed of the Avatarian freeze spell.

"How? I-I thought Avatars were all powerful.. hell, invincible!" Cole muttered, shock and dismal at the whole thing. "H-how did this happen?"

"Oh, by all means, Avatars aren't invincible, Cole." Zankou explained, kicking aside Milo's cloak. "There is a potion that will kill them. I found it from this human earlier." he then put his hand to his chin, thinking. "...Kinda looked like you, actually. When I found the potion, I thought you were back to your old habits, what with the betraying and such."

Suddenly, Cole grabbed his head and dropped to his knees. He screamed in anguish as pain took over his entire being. "ARRGHHH!"

Zankou stepped back, clearly caught offguard by this. "Cole..?"

At that point, orange and black electric energy surrounded Cole's entire being. Jolts of electricity shot off from Cole and into the demons that stood above them, killing them in the process. The jolts then transformed into huge lightning bolts that shot up into the blue barrier Zankou had created to prevent escape. It was destroyed. Zankou quickly shimmered away to a safe point, and watched as the orange and black currents pulled Cole out of the Underworld.

* * *

May, 2006.

"W-we did it." a voice spoke out, breathing heavily. Female. Young. "We actually did it."

"Yeah, I know." confirmed a second voice, also female. "I really couldn't have done it without you."

The first female sighed. There is destruction all around them: debris of the Charmed Ones' house, of the local San Francisco area -- well, what was left of San Francisco before the big battle, at least --, and dead bodies everywhere. This was a horrific scene of death and utter annilhilation, and it was all for one thing.

"We killed them," the first voice continued. "We finally vanquished the Charmed Ones."

* * *

May, 2024.

It has been 18 years since the big battle occured -- the final battle between the Charmed Ones, and the Ultimate Power. The area formally known as San Francisco had paid the price for it -- before, during, and especially after the big battle. Before it, legions of demons invaded the human world and caused as much destruction as it could. Many demons were led in groups of ten, each with an upper level demon as its leader. There was a team controlled by Barbus that fed on the fears of humans -- and, in turn, made them into their personal slaves. There was a team brought in by Bacarra that utterly disregarded human lives as if they were toys to be played with. And, the team with Zankou as the general caused the most chaos of all -- what, with the Grimoir at his disposal.

Not even the magical community was spared -- leprechauns, fairies, muses -- all were slaughtered left and right, days before the final hours of the Charmed Ones vs. Ultimate Power battle. Perhaps they were the lucky ones -- with their deaths, they were spared from witnessing one of the most brutal massacres to ever take place in all of history -- human, demonic, magical, or otherwise.

Indeed, this was a different world. This was a world where the Charmed Ones had failed to protect it. The Ultimate Power -- two young female witches -- had grown to be exceptionally powerful. By the time the showdown happened, their magical powers were far beyond the likes of Elders, the Source, and, sadly, the Charmed Ones. Neutral powers such as the Cleaners and Avatars refused to take part in the fight -- rightfully so, as they had been shunned away by the Charmed Ones years prior to it.

But, all of this was years ago. As of now, the world laid in waste and still suffers from the effects of the battle. In fact, the world now wasn't much different than the world in the other dimension where Wyatt Matthews Halliwell proved his dominance -- the only difference is that, instead of Wyatt being the one in charge, the power belonged to the two witches.

The final battle between the Charmed Ones and the Ultimate Power was quite interesting, to say the least. Due to circumstances created by a very clever demon, the magical community turned their backs on them when they were "convinced" that the Charmed Ones had become astray from the path of righteousness. The entire line of magical beings -- from pixies to the Elders, were made to believe that Piper Halliwell, Phoebe Halliwell, and Paige Halliwell were ignoring their destinies and using their powers for self-pleasure. Because of this, they supported the young witches -- and that allowed the two of them to harness their potential and become far, far more capable than they would be otherwise. Just like it happened in the alternative dimension, Piper never saw it coming, and neither did Phoebe. Paige was the last to go -- contrary to her being the first to die in the dimension where Wyatt Halliwell and the Titans reigned supreme. Leo, having been frozen by the Elders before the fight in order to encourage the Charmed Ones into fighting, remained so for the last 18 years.

The Ultimate Power proved to be the Ultimate Evil, after all.

* * *

Rain. Droplets of water from above landed on the soil below as the first rain storm in months hit the San Francisco area. There was lightning and thunder -- oddly, the lightning that flashed every few minutes were.. orange. And black. Unlucky bystanders caught in the rain ran around as they searched for shelter from the storm.

One of them wasn't fast enough, as an orange bolt struck him in the chest. The human burst into flames and exploded. In his place stood another man.

Cole dropped to one knee and held his head with the other. Ugh.. that wasn't fun. His face winced and he looked around -- garbage, debris, remnants of buildings -- he had no idea how he did it, but he was obviously out of the Underworld and into somewhere.. familiar? In anycase, this was, once again, not the place he needed to be. AGAIN.

The Avatar jumped off the ground and dusted himself. As he walked around, he noticed the various decaying debris and bodies -- this place was really like the one where he had fought adult Wyatt, but something in the air was visibly different. There was a lack of.. "masculine energy".. to put it simply.

* * *

"We got him," a voice said.

"Yeah, finally." a second voice sighed. "I was starting to think we'd never be able to do it."

"Oh, don't worry. As powerful as he is, it was just a matter of time. I mean, we vanquished the Charmed Ones, remember?"

"You're right. So, do you know where he landed?"

"Downtown. Let's go pick up our little puppy, shall we?"

* * *

The rain stopped, and Cole once again found himself in a park -- the same one where he had first "met" that Chris kid and his girlfriend in the other dimension. Cole searched around the area -- maybe he would come across them again? No such luck. The entire park was empty. This was obvious as there was nothing all across it -- no benches, no trees, no decorations -- just dead grass from this side to the other side of a barren field.

Something flickered.

Cole could see it -- a shape? It was far away in the distance, several hundred feet from where he stood. Cole shimmered, and reappeared before it. It was a leftover image, it seems, of a presence long since erased from existence.

It was Phoebe.

"Cole.. you need.. to.." it spoke, as Cole inched closer. He couldn't believe it.

"Phoebe?! Wha.. what are you doing here? I'm glad to see you, but -- what's going on?!"

Even though it was but a mere projection, Cole could sense her presence in it - her soul. His demonic instincts screamed that this was possibly a trap of some sort by whomever was running the show, but his human side insisted that this was his former love.

"You shouldn't.. be here.." the projection continued, flickering. "..go.. before they.."

She vanished, dissolved into the wind just as quickly as it had appeared.

Cole looked around, desperate to find any sign of it again. "Phoebe? Phoebe, I --"

There was another presence. Two, this time. Cole paused -- he could feel them standing right behind him, and his Avatarian abilities told him who they were immediately. It was them -- the two powerful forces he had been feeling since coming to this world. Cole slowly turned around to find two young women staring right back.

"Who are you?" he demanded. He observed them -- on the outside, they appeared to be college-aged young girls, no older than 19 or 20, with blonde hair each. But inside, there was something much, much more deadly.

"It's funny you should ask," the one on the left began. She had straight blonde hair, shoulder-length. Her eyes darted down as she pretended to be confused -- a mockery of Cole. "We thought you would've figured it out already."

"I guess the great Cole Turner isn't as marvelous as the Book made him out to be," the other blonde sighed. She tossed her curly hair to the side and folded her arms. "No surprise that the Charmed bitches overexaggerated him."

Suddenly, Cole found himself choked by the first blonde girl. He was surprised by her speed -- and strength! Even as an Avatar, his eyes weren't fast enough to see her teleport to his back for a choke hold.

"Now, Christy!" the witch commanded as she held Cole in her grasp. The other witch glared at Cole, her eyes shifting from normal to blood red as she summoned her power of Pyro Combustion.

Flames began to burst all around Cole's body, and the first blonde quickly released her hold. She teleported to her sister's side and watched as Cole's body was scorched with destructive fire. Cole lifted his hands to his face and stared in horror as his skin slowly burned off. He looked up at the two witches, his eyes reflective of the pain he must've felt.

Cole smiled.

"You know, the whole vanquishing thing gets kinda old after the first three or four times," Cole exhaled as he extended one flaming arm towards the two women. He squeezed his hand into a fist, and the flames that had been burning his flesh instantly dissipated. The fire had zero effect -- even his suit was undamaged. Cole dusted himself. "A hell of a greeting, though."

"What the hell?!" the fire-powered witch screamed in shock. "How did you do that?! No one's done that before!"

"Let's just say that maybe the Charmed Ones weren't exaggerating, after all." Cole joined his hands together and fixed his sight on the witches. "Now, I want some answers. We can do this the easy way, or --"

At that point, the first witch stepped forward and focused her powers on Cole. The Avatar was promptly knocked 300 feet away via telekinesis. "That should stop him for a while," the witch smirked, satisfied.

Cole reappeared behind them via shimmer. "...the hard way. By the way, I hope you were kidding with that last move. I mean, telekinesis? Really?"

The two sisters spun around and gawked in shock. This was the first time in 22 years that somebody withstood BOTH of their attacks -- not since Zankou, not since the Triads, and not since the Charmed Ones. Perhaps they made a grave mistake by trying to conjure the Source's power for a challenge?

"Now, as I was saying," Cole advanced with intent. "I want some answers. Where am I, and where are the other witches like you? Namely, the Charmed Ones."

The girls stepped back. "They're dead. The Charmed Ones are dead." the fire-witch sneered. "Billie and I killed them years ago!"

"What?" Cole scoffed incrediously. "Two wimps like them killed the all-powerful Charmed Ones?" That was a bit hard for Cole to swallow.

"You heard me. Wanna see how we did it?" the other witch mockingly offered. She and her sister joined hands, and suddenly, the Earth shook. A violent force of energy erupted from the two of them -- one that Cole had actually never felt before. The intense wave of energy overcame Cole's entire being as he realized his very molecules were being ripped apart. Cole recognized this -- this was the power he had felt when he had first arrived in this time plane -- and it was being unleashed on him.

"..Okay, this is impressive. I mean that." Cole then grunted as he struggled to pierce himself together. His could see his arms and hands literally being torn apart.

..and then, Cole evaporated.

* * *

"This is it!" a voice declared excitedly. Male.

"Are you sure?" another voice asked, this time of an older male, possibly in his mid 50's.

"Yeah, dad, Wyatt's got him. He never misses." was the reply from yet a third male.

All of a sudden, blue and white swirls and jingles materialized before all three men, and focused into the unique shape of Cole Turner. The three backed away to give Cole some distance, with the eldest male pushing them back. Cole slumped to his knees, exhausted.

He looked up, and saw three familiar faces staring back. Cole turned his head, baffled and speechless.

The elder man picked him up and seated him on a nearby chair. Cole could not do much but stare in complete shock. "You.. aren't you.. Leo?"

"Yeah. It's me, alright." The man sighed and nodded. His sons stood by his side. "I'm sure you know who they are?"

Cole nodded affirmative. Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and Chris Perry Halliwell, the two men he had met during his last tenure in the alternative future. Chris, for the most part, did not look any different appearance-wise. Wyatt, though? Short hair in place of the golden locks, clean shaven as opposed to the goatee. He was the exact opposite of how "Evil Wyatt" looked. Cole fixed his sight on Wyatt. Instincts urged him to attack the young Halliwell and make him pay for his deeds, but his human side insisted that he reserve judgment -- this was a different Wyatt, and he could not feel any threatening evil within this young man.

Leo sighed. The Whitelighter had aged a bit, but his old habit of being a worry-wart was still there. Years of stress from mourning the deaths of his wife and sisters in-laws had left him considerably tired and worn. The constant battles with the two evil sister witches added a lot. Still, Leo fought -- for the sake of his sons, and for the sake of the future. The witches had to be stopped. As long as Wyatt and Chris were willing to continue, so shall he.

"So.. what do we do now, dad?" Chris inquired, turning to his father.

"Chris, Wyatt, it's time." Leo began, nodding at his sons. They understood the cue immediately, and left to prepare. As they exited the room, Leo shifted his attention on Cole, of whom was observing this very carefully. "Cole, I need to explain to you about what has been happening, and about the world that my sons and I live in. After I'm finished, it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to join us."

Cole's eyes watched Leo. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. "...I'm listening."

Leo pulled up a wooden chair and sat directly in front of Cole. "22 years ago, the Elders foretold a power that would put us all in grave danger. A power that was so strong that only the sisters could defeat it."

Cole nodded. At that moment, the image of the two witches he had fought just earlier popped into his mind. They couldn't have been..?

"At first, we thought the Elders were talking about the Avatars. But it wasn't them."

Cole's eyes glistened. This was new.

"After the Avatars left, we were attacked by another group -- this time, the Triads."

"The Triads?" Cole exclaimed. "I destroyed the Triads years ago, didn't I?"

Leo sighed. "No, you only hindered their progress for a while, but they were still alive, scheming and plotting to take out the sisters."

"So what happened? Are the Triads this 'power' that turned the world into this?"

At that point, Leo got off the chair and walked to the window. He stared intently at the scenary outside -- sun down had passed and it was now dark. Cole watched him curiously.

"The Triads.. were linked to it, but they weren't the Ultimate Power. The Ultimate Power resided in a pair of sister witches like Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Prue. They were normal human beings that the Triads nurtured into powerful witches, capable of killing the Charmed Ones." Leo sighed, stuffing his hands into his jeans as he recalled the two names that he would grow to hate in 22 years' time. "Billie Jenkins and Christy Jenkins. The same witches that attacked you just now, Cole."

Cole placed one hand on the back of his head and scratched. "Leo's, that's odd. If the witches that I fought just now are the same ones that killed the sisters 22 years ago, and if they're humans --"

"It's an aging spell," Leo replied, knowing where Cole was going. "They casted a spell from the Book of Shadows that keeps them from aging. It allows them to maintain their prime."

Cole was startled by this disturbing new fact. "Does this mean that you guys don't have the book in your possession?"

Leo sighed. "I wish we did. Things would be a lot easier, but the Book left us 22 years ago in the height of the sisters' fight. Wyatt and Chris never had the chance to reclaim it back."

Cole glanced at both of Leo's sons, who stared at the floor with solemn expressions. "So Wyatt never had linked himself to the book. That explains why things are in the state that they are."

"What do you mean?" Wyatt inquired, somewhat miffed at what Cole might be suggesting. Chris and Leo were also curious.

"I fought you in another dimension. Another timeline. You were powerful, much stronger than those two bimbos." Cole explained. "You had the Book of Shadows and the Grimoire at your disposal. You were evil, but you were ridiculously overpowered."

"I think I know where he's going," Chris interjected, nodding. "If we can get the Book of Shadows back, we can stand on equal ground with Christy and Billie."

"Not equal, better." Cole corrected. "Well, we would have to wrestle the Grimoire away from them, too, but, you know."

Leo walked towards Cole, and sigh somberly. He placed a hand on Cole's shoulder. "I'm glad that you're here to help us, Cole."

Cole stared at him, slightly confused. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. I'm happy to help, of course, and Leo, you've always been the sensible one, but.. um, aren't we on bad terms? You know, with the whole..." he paused hesitantly. "...Source thing."

Leo nodded with an understanding smile. "It's alright. Piper told me about the time you helped her reunite us together."

Cole returned a confounded expression, which Leo caught and immediately knew he had let something out of the bag. "That hasn't happened with you yet, has it?" The Avatar shook his head, his eyebrows twitching slightly as if trying to decipher more information. "Well, when it happens, you'll know."

"In any case, we have to figure out what we need to do," Wyatt stepped in. The others agreed, and huddled together to form a plan to take down the Ultimate Evils.

* * *

"We did kill him, didn't we?!" the fire-powered witch demanded, her eyes fixated at her palms that she had put to her face. "Why don't I feel any stronger?? Where is the Source's power?!"

"Calm down, Christy." the other witch, Billie, sat down on a worn out leather sofa. They had returned to their a small apartment building that, although rusty and possibly harmful to reside in, was at least in better condition than every other place out in the world. Billie crossed her legs and closed her eyes -- she began to meditate, hoping to locate the power she and her sister had just retrieved.

"Well? Do we have it?"

No such luck.

"Something's not right," Billie suggested, her eyes popping back. "He's still alive."

Christy glowered. "It's them, isn't it? They saved him at the last possible second. I knew I smelled the stench from the Halliwell Boys."

"What do you suggest we do, Christy?"

The witch grinned. "I have an idea..."

*[Note 1: Wyatt and Chris appear here as they do in the season finale of Charmed, clean cut and shaven.]

*[Note 2: Leo appears as he does in the montage where he's teaching the next generation of kids in Magic School -- older, gray-haired, but still a very recognizable Brian Krause.]

*[Note 3: Billie and Christy appear as they do in the last episodes of season 7.]

*[Note 4: Much apologies for updating after all this time -- to be honest, ever since Charmed ended, I've been focusing on other things and had no time to write. But I've been rewatching the show lately, and the drive to write came back. Plus, all the concept notes and ideas that I jogged down for this fic are still around, so it seems only right to resume where I had left off. Once again, sorry for the lengthy space between updates, but if you're still here, thanks for sticking around.]


	8. Thank You For Sending Me an Angel

Chapter 8: Thank You For Sending Me an Angel

The ruins of San Francisco.

The moonlight shone down upon the ruined city as the scene reveals Cole Turner and Chris Matthews standing before an abandoned building. Chris turns to him.

"I really hope this works."

Cole nodded in response, then turns his head to observe the area. It was then that he noticed a silhouette walking towards him. Cole gestured to Chris, who also takes note of the shadow, but was suspicious.

"There's no way that we've lured them out already. It's too easy."

Cole nodded again, his eyes unmoving from the shadowy figure. He had to be on guard, after all.

As the figure approached them, it spoke with a voice that was shockingly familiar. "Hello, Cole. Chris."

The two men were taken aback by the identity of the figure -- Phoebe?!

"This is obviously a trick," Cole scoffed, half smirking and half scanning the area. "Phoebe and the sisters were killed a long time ago."

"Come on out, Billie, Christy." Chris followed.

"You sure about that?" Two figures appeared behind the silhouette of Phoebe -- Billie and Christy. Wait a minute - if both of them were here, together, then who was playing impostor Phoebe? Chris and Cole stared at them, confused.

Billie smiled. "You know, Cole, I've read up on you, and I know how much you always wanted Phoebe to be with you. Wasn't there one time where you became the Source and then tried to turn Phoebe evil?"

Christy walked forward and placed one hand on Phoebe's shoulder, of whom cocked her head and smiled seductively at Cole. "Guess which timeline we plucked this one from?"

"You can't be serious..." Cole responded, his eyes never leaving Phoebe's.

"I'll give you a hint." Christy offered with a sneer, then moved her hand from Phoebe's shoulder to her stomach. "Ooh, I think I felt a kick."

Both Chris and Cole became visibly revolted by the two witches' tactics. "You guys are sick." Chris declared, almost scathingly. "I can't believe you were ever on the side of good."

"Don't you want me, Cole?" Phoebe interjected, her words and the manner of speech pleadingly. Cole had to look away - even someone like him could not bear to see this. Phoebe marched forward and placed both her arms around the Avatar's shoulders, almost in an embrace. Cole remained frozen.

"You see, sis? Just like I told you." Billie gloated, chuckling. "Actually, I think the plan turned out to be even better."

Christy smiled. "Cole Turner's greatest weakness is his passion for Phoebe Halliwell. Pathetic."

"...would be the word that I'd use to describe your amateur strategy." a voice suddenly spoke from behind the sister witches. They spun around to find Cole looking back to them with orange and black energy balls in both hands. He grinned.

"What the hell?!" Christy exclaimed, seconds before Cole chucked both energy balls in her direction. They connected with the target, knocking her ten feet away, past Chris, and into the debris.

"How in the hell are you here?!" Billie growled, and turned back to find the Phoebe Halliwell they had conjured unconscious and in the arms of... Wyatt?! Chris and Wyatt both smiled triumphantly.

"Shapeshifting, the oldest trick in the book. I'm surprised you fell for it." Cole almost nonchalantly commented, then dark shimmered from in front of Billie to behind Wyatt and Chris. He picked up Phoebe from Wyatt, who then joined Chris as they both charged after Billie. "Go for it, boys." The two men encircled her and began to chant a spell.

"Where there is time, there is darkness. Where there is shine, there is brightness." they rhymed in harmony. Billie found herself enshrouded by white and black swirls of magic, and she appeared frightened. The two repeated the chant once more.

Suddenly, a barrage of fireballs shot up in the air and flew towards Chris and Wyatt's direction. Even Cole was surprised at the speed and intensity of the pyro spheres.

"Chris, move!" Wyatt shouted and both men quickly jumped away from Billie to dodge the attack. Billie, still caught in the circle of the spell, ate the fire head on and burst into flames.

"NO!!" a scream was heard as Christy ran to where her sister helplessly stood. The flames consumed Billie, and her screams of agony echoed throughout the vacant city as she became vanquished by her own flesh and blood.

Wyatt and Chris recovered by Cole's side. "Well... that has to suck." the Avatar remarked with an incredulous expression.

Christy turned and faced them with tears of anger and frustration. She growled and launched towards Cole. "URRGHH, YOU SON OF A --"

Cole effortlessly dark shimmered behind Christy, with Phoebe still in his arms. "Such ill mannered behavior. Tsk-tsk. You don't see a lot of cultured villains anymore these days." With that, his eyes blackened, and the witch instantly disappeared, as if teleported from this plane of existence to another.

Wyatt and Chris ran to him. "What did you do?" the younger brother asked.

"Eh, just a new technique that I wanted to try." the Avatar shrugged. "She's not dead, but where she's going, she's gonna wish for it."

"No, if she's still alive, then she'll find a way back here." Chris said, urgently. "It's not over yet."

"Not if your brother has anything to say about that." Cole responded, smiling at Wyatt. Chris turned to him for an explanation, but Wyatt could only offer cluelessness.

At that point, blue and white swirled energized next to the three and Leo materialized. He looked around the surroundings, then to the three. "How'd it go?"

"They're gone." Wyatt replied. "Billie was vanquished, and Christy was banished to an ungodly plane."

"So it's over?" Leo asked with a hint of optimism that hadn't been seen in decades. He looked to Cole, and noticed the unconscious Phoebe. He frowned, knowing what must've taken place. "Oh no... Cole, don't tell me that they --"

Cole stopped him. "Don't look at it that way, Leo." he softly placed Phoebe into Leo's arms, who carried her with extreme delicacy. "This is a blessing. For all the wrongs that the two witches had committed, they did something right for once."

"What do you mean?" Leo inquired, curious.

"Your boys have their aunt back, and you have someone who can help you teach the next generation to fight for good."

"It's gonna be a bitch to erase all that brainwashing, though." Wyatt commented, sighing a deep breath.

"It'll be just fine as long as the one thing that'll hold her back is gone." Cole began to walk away from them. The three knew instantly what he meant.

"Cole, you don't have to --" Leo started, but he was cut off.

"No." Cole shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I have to go, anyway."

Wyatt and Chris walked up to the Avatar and they each placed a hand on his shoulders. Leo nodded with an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Cole. For everything."

Cole was taken aback by their gratitude. He turned to Wyatt and Chris. "We're gonna make sure that you go down in history not as a villain, but as a hero." the older sibling vowed. "This, I promise."

The Avatar nodded, and couldn't help but smile slightly. He shook his head in disbelief, then looked up in the air. "Well, fellas, it was nice hanging with you."

"Goodbye, Cole." Leo waved. "I hope you find whatever it is that you're searching for."

With that, Cole dark shimmered away. Leo, Wyatt, and Chris turned to each other and smiled. Their world was finally saved from years of the cursed destiny, and now they have the chance to start anew. The future, at last, looked bright and hopeful.

But Cole's journey was not over yet. Far from it.

* * *

San Francisco, 2006.

An alley, in between buildings and littered with trash cans.

A dark energy materialized themselves into Cole as he reappeared in the present. He looked around with an alarmed expression, then quickly showed his palms to himself. He did a quick count of his fingers. "...seven, eight, nine, ten.. okay, they're all still here. And my feet?" Cole lifted one leg up and began to remove his shoes.

"You know, for someone who still needs to work out the mechanics of shimmering, you rely on it quite a bit." a familiar voice spoke. Cole looked up, leg still in the air. Zankou.

"Hey, are you the same Zankou that I was with before?" Cole asked. "Killed one of my partners and everything?"

Zankou smirked. "Now why would I be standing here in this filthy alley if I didn't know you were more than just Balthazar?"

The Avatar nodded, agreeing. "That's a good point." He put his leg down and dusted his suit.

"Well, Cole, I believe that we were in the middle of negotiations? Have you fetched the Grimoire?"

"Yeah, about that." Cole began, his eyebrows twitching as if in deep thought. "I don't think we can do business together."

Zankou frowned, somewhat dejected. He tilted his head to the side, almost sarcastically. "And why would you come to such a terrible conclusion?"

"Well," Cole said, matter-of-factly. "You're a demon. You're a dangerous demon, actually. If I give you access to the Grimoire, I'd put the Charmed Ones in a lot of danger."

"Go on," Zankou nodded, as if intrigued.

"I wouldn't want that." Cole spread his hands out, gesturing. "You're powerful enough as it is, right? It'd be wrong to give you an extra boost."

"And what about your mission? Were you not going to jump into the near future to prevent the Charmed Ones from being vanquished?"

Cole shook his head. "You know, I realized how silly the whole premise is. The Charmed Ones are here, aren't they? Why spend all that time trying to get to the future when I could just stay right here and protect them now?" the Avatar then smirked. "Hey, I could even start with you!"

Zankou responded with a smirk of his own, yet at the same time shaking his head as if this was all nonsense to him. "Ah, Cole, you disappoint me greatly. Just one more thing, though."

Cole turned his head, his eyes glued to Zankou like a curious child. "Yeah?"

"You see, you choosing to stick around means that things are going to be extra troublesome for an ambitious guy like me."

"Uh-huh?"

"I don't think I'd enjoy that. As you've mentioned just now, I am a demon, and you know very well that demons only have one thing on their mind." Zankou continued. He looked down for a quick second then back up. "Wait, that's not right. Pardon me, I mean two things, actually."

Cole nodded understandingly.

"The first is survival. The second..." Zankou trailed off. He raised one hand to eye level, then summoned a lavender and white energy ball. "...is world domination." As soon as he finished his sentence, the demon hurled the sphere at Cole's direction. Cole merely sidestepped it, his eyes watching the ball as it scorched the building behind him and left burn marks.

"Hmm. That didn't even make you flinch?" Zankou observed. Cole shrugged. "Such power..." the demon then reached into his pants pocket, fishing for something. "Make that three things. Demons also want power." He pulls out the wooden vial containing the deadly Avatar Miasma. "We really, really want power." Zankou raised his hand and prepared to throw it at the Avatar.

"You know, I think I should mention something to you," Cole interrupted, his eyes on Zankou's hand. "All this thinking that I've been doing has made me figure out something else."

"And what might that be?"

"I'm an Avatar... but I'm also a demon. And a human. As well as the Source of all Evil."

"What's your point?" Zankou demanded, almost tired of this charade he and Cole were doing.

"Well, all I'm saying is that you can go ahead and throw that, and you'll probably even vanquish the Avatar side of me." He locked eyes with Zankou, and his voice deepened. "But, there's a very good chance that my demon side, and my Source side, would be unaffected by that potion. And I doubt they'd appreciate your actions."

That made Zankou reconsider. "Hmm." He lowered his arm and examined the Avatar Miasma container. "I think you might actually be right. But you know..." The demon teleported out of Cole's sight, and reappeared on the second story of the building next to them. "That just means that I'd have to find a way to hurt you.. without actually harming you."

Cole looked up, his eyes staring at Zankou sternly.

"Or maybe I should find a way that would hurt every side of you?" Zankou suggested from above, half to himself and half to Cole. He glanced down. "You're challenging me to use my brain." the demon declared, pointing to his temple with two fingers. "I appreciate that."

With that, Zankou shimmered away from the scene. Cole could only stare ahead. There was trouble a-brewing, and he knew it.

* * *

Purgatory.

Darkness covered the entire room, with only moonlight illuminating the area through a tiny window guarded by bars. Just then, there was a sound of a SPLASH, as if something - or someone - had fallen into the shallow waters in the room.

The figure pulled itself up, loud and thrashing. It was shrouded by the darkness, with the only thing visible being the eyes of the being. They glowed with the intense flames of fire red. And then, there was a voice -- a male's.

"What's the matter, the water didn't put you out?"

Suddenly, the holding room of Purgatory lit up with new artificial lights to reveal the intimidating posture of Wyatt standing before his new prisoner. His long, wavey fair tied in a ponytail, this Wyatt was not the same do-gooder from the world that the prisoner was familiar with. Evil Wyatt sneered as he stared down at his pretty new prey.

"Welcome to Purgatory. The Seer told me you'd arrive."

The prisoner growled. "I'm going to wipe that smile off your face and make you wish you never existed."

Wyatt scoffed. "You don't realize that you were a big fish in a small pond, do you, Christy?" He extended one hand and the sword of Excalibur fully materialized. "Forget what you think you know about Wyatt Matthews Halliwell, because I'm going to show you what I'm truly capable of."

* * *

Cole tapped his foot impatiently. It was kind of ironic -- an all powerful being like himself, forced to stand and wait in line in front of a hot dog vender for food. Sure, he could easily pause time and just grab what he needed - and the thought crossed his mind more than once. But no, that would be cheating. Besides, he still hadn't worked out the hijinks of his Avatarian powers. Who knows what time stopping would do?

"Perhaps... I should let you in on our grand design." a voice contemplated.

Cole looked around, startled and confused. Everything around him had halted to a grind in an all familiar manner. He looked to his right to find a friendly figure.

"Swetow! Where have you been?"

"Recuperating..." the elder Avatar replied. "Milo's death resulted in the collective's severe weakening."

Cole was apologetic. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to stop Zankou, but he --"

"There is no need, Cole. I reviewed the event and the fault lies in Milo for failing to appeal to reason."

Cole appreciated that. He was glad that Swetow, arguably the one person he could call a mentor these days, was so understanding about the situation. The elder Avatar had more to add, however. "Still, Cole.. I must bring this to your attention. While the majority of the Avatars are advocates of peace and utopia, there is one among us who has been unable to come to terms with our vision."

Cole nodded. "There's always a bad seed in the bunch. The black sheep." he chuckled. "I would know."

"There is an Avatar who has taken up the title of 'Omega'," Swetow took a slow breath, half sighing. "..he is a dangerous man to engage in battle with. He was one of Milo's many students, if not his favorite." The Avatar glanced up towards Cole. "There is no doubt that he will come for you and this Zankou, to avenge his teacher."

Cole shrugged with a half grin. As if that was supposed to intimidate him? Please. Cole, a demon that was borderline a century and a quarter old? In his lifetime, he had seen, fought, and defeated many things that prided themselves as great. He was the Source, and even recently, he managed to take on two different dynasties from separate timelines during this stint as an Avatar. Seriously, what would one more guy do to him?

Swetow noticed the younger Avatar's arrogance. "Heed this warning, Cole. I bring this to your attention as your leader, as your fellow Avatar, and as a... friend."

"Swetow, you don't have to worry. Out of respect for you, I won't fight him." Cole agreed, but then muttered to himself under his breath. "…not unless he tries to attack me."

"One other thing," Swetow looked up. "There is an urgency that the other Avatars and I must attend to immediately. We believe that there is a good chance that we will be out of reach for some time…" he turned to Cole and looked him in the eye. "…which, is why, I have decided to assign you a… partner."

That caught Cole by surprise. "I'm sorry, what?" To be honest, other than Swetow, Cole hadn't really had the chance to get to know any of the other Avatars, save for Milo -- whom, frankly, was not somebody whose company he enjoyed. If this partner shared the same characteristics as Milo, then Cole could already envision the problems he and this guy will have. As a matter of fact, pretty much anyone EXCEPT Swetow would be trouble. Cole had always been, after all, more of a loner.

The elder Avatar sensed Cole's hesitation, and smiled assuringly. "Don't worry, I had the chance to discuss this with him while we were all together with Gamma and Beta. He was reluctant, to be sure, but given the past history between you and he, I strongly believe that the two of you can work together in our absence."

Cole stepped back. Wait a minute, what? Upon hearing this, he suddenly had a very good idea his new partner's identity. There was only one person that was currently an Avatar that he'd even HAVE a history with. "Swetow, you don't mean..?"

Swetow turned to his left, and a figure shimmered in with a mix of blue, white, and black swirls. Cole stared at him with a slightly reserved expression, but there was a small hint of a smile on the corner of his face.

"Hey, Cole." Leo greeted.

*[Note 1: The Phoebe that Christy and Billie conjures up is from late season 4, when Cole was the Source and Phoebe was pregnant with his spawn. I originally wanted to use the Phoebe from the alternate universe that Cole created in "Centennial Charmed", but I doubt Cole would give her too much sympathy (then again, maybe he would..).]

*[Note 2: The name "Omega" is parallel to Swetow's "Alpha", his official name in the Charmed universe. "Omega" stands for "the last", "the final", whereas "Alpha" is "the first" or "the beginning".]

*[Note 3: Thanks for all the kind reviews! I read and appreciate every one of them. :)]


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